


Don't Threaten Me With A Good Time

by speccygeekgrrl



Series: MST3K Alternate Universes [20]
Category: Mystery Science Theater 3000
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Blindfolds, Bondage, Crow does not shut up ever, Cuddle Puddles, Cuddling & Snuggling, Developing Relationship, F/M, Fingerfucking, Gen, Kink Negotiation, Kink Party, M/M, Naked Cuddling, Pack Cuddles, Pinching, Platonic Cuddling, Relationship Negotiation, Skin Hunger, Spanking, Spreader Bars, Violet Wand, Voyeurism, Wax Play, conflict resolution via sex games, kitten play, platonic kink, the bots are humans, therapist Max with therapeutic cuddles, why isn't cuddle puddle a tag already
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-28
Updated: 2018-11-23
Packaged: 2019-05-30 00:54:24
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 21,128
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15085481
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/speccygeekgrrl/pseuds/speccygeekgrrl
Summary: Impression is a monthly kink event. Kinga decides to check it out, not knowing what she'll find, and meets several interesting people.





	1. cuddle puddle + wax play

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kinga comes to a different kind of party in her new neighborhood. Yeah, she's antisocial, but a woman has needs. The needs she gets filled are not the ones she expects, or even knows about, though. It doesn't take a lot to sell her on why cuddling is a great thing. Maybe she can find a community where she isn't the odd one out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey there demons, it's me ya girl, back with another AU no one asked for that was triggered by events that happened to a friend of mine (of whom I am _extremely jealous_ ) Honestly at this point I'm just so glad to finish anything that I have no embarrassment left for what it is. 
> 
> This is much cuter and more conversation-filled than I thought it would be when I got the idea. I thought it would be a quick little fic. Ha. Hahaha. Hahahahahahahahaha _*sobs*_

"What are we in line for?" Kinga asked the very tall man in yellow boxer-briefs she'd found herself behind.

"Intensive cuddling," the guy said, and her brow furrowed.

"Cuddling."

"Yeah."

"In the middle of--" She waved a finger around vaguely. "All this." This was her first time at a kink event and she was getting a little overwhelmed with all the options and all the action going on in plain view and behind closed doors. This line lead to one of the doors.

"That's why he's in a room."

"You're standing in line to get hugged."

"I mean, not really? Honestly I'm here for the hair petting, but the hugging is really nice."

"You're standing in line to get your hair pet?"

"Trust me, if you knew the kind of cuddling I'm talking about, you wouldn't sound scornful." Kinga's hackles rose at the suggestion that she didn't know something, but he sounded way too earnest about the pleasures available on the other side of that door, and her curiosity was piqued. She stayed where she was, peering around the tall man to find someone leaving the room with a peaceful, dreamy look on her face, and the next person in line closing the door behind them. The woman who came out of the room blinked a couple of times and smiled at the tall man.

"Hey Jonah. How's it going?"

"Putting it mildly... I need this or I might not survive the week."

"I know that feeling," the woman said, and she tilted her head at Kinga. "Is there a new cuddle buddy?"

"She's a skeptic," Jonah said, and the woman laughed.

"That'll probably be a yes then. Hi, I'm Synthia."

"Kinga." This was the sixth time Kinga had introduced herself while only wearing panties, and it was still super weird to want people who'd seen her basically naked to be able to identify her should their paths cross again.

"Hi Kinga. You're in for a treat."

"This is a sugar cookie kink," Kinga said. "But I do occasionally enjoy sweet things."

"Occasionally," Jonah said, and his gaze fell to the several livid marks on her breasts that had been left just about immediately before she fell into line behind him before he looked back at Synthia. "Is there a cuddle puddle tonight?"

"He told me to come back at midnight, so..."

"I'll see you then. Terry said to tell you he's at the impact station."

"You're a doll. See you." Synthia went on her way, and Kinga arched a brow at Jonah.

"Cuddle buddies? Cuddle puddles? This is all sounding pretty kindergarten."

"It's deliberately cute. When was the last time you got a hug?"

"What?"

"A hug. An embrace. Someone putting their arms around you. You just seem really dismissive of the idea."

"I-- it doesn't matter," she said, in lieu of _I can't remember_ , which was pathetic. Jonah held out an arm and she blinked at him blankly.

"Can I hug you?"

"I... guess," she said, and he came in slowly like she was a skittish cat and he'd get scratched if he spooked her. She huffed and dropped her head against his chest, not really sure what to do with her hands when he wrapped his arms around her. He was so tall that the top of her head barely reached his shoulder, and she turned her head and closed her eyes and realized that his heartbeat was suddenly the loudest thing she could hear.

It was nice. It was really nice. And then his hand came up to stroke her hair and she was sold. He swayed a little, side to side, and she put her hands on his hips and let herself breathe out, the tension between her shoulder blades releasing when she sighed. "See? It's not so bad." His voice was a low rumble with her ear pressed to his chest.

"It's still super vanilla," she said, not able to stop herself from snarking, but Jonah just laughed.

"If intimacy is vanilla and you skip it with kink, I'll take the vanilla, thanks."

"Is that what this is about?" It _was_ intimate, especially considering how minimally clad they both were, and Kinga wasn't sure how much of her arousal was because of how he was holding her versus all the stuff she did and saw before she got there.

"Yeah, of course. Cuddling fosters trust, and trust is necessary for anything satisfactory to happen. Even if my definition of satisfactory and yours don't match, trust is still necessary."

"So you trust the guy behind the door?"

"Yes," Jonah said. "I've only been coming to these events since the beginning of the year, and it was almost too much for me to handle the first time. Max saw me starting to panic and he pulled me out of the big room and into the cuddle nest and helped me calm down. And honestly, that was my favorite part of the night. So I keep coming back."

"Just for this?"

"Not _just_ for this. But I don't do a lot of scenes."

"That's too bad," she said. "Well, maybe not. I don't know what you're into. You might be a terrible play partner."

"I'm not a terrible play partner," he said, hurt in his voice. "I think you're more likely to be the terrible play partner out of the two of us."

"Shots fired. I didn't say you were, I said you might be. I barely know you. I barely know anyone here. This is my first time and I've only been here about two hours."

"Oh!" Jonah pulled back to look down at her with a smile. "Well, welcome to Impression. It's a monthly event, if you decide you like it."

"So far it's not bad."

"There are other things for the community during the month, too. Munches and things. You know, social stuff, not sexy stuff."

"I'm not a social person," Kinga said, and Jonah shrugged.

"I'm just giving you information, you don't need to do anything with it. Whether I ever see you again is up to you, but it'd be nice to." Her cheeks flushed, and he ducked his head sheepishly. "Just saying."

"You're very--" Whatever Kinga was going to say was interrupted by the door opening and another dreamy-eyed person coming out, this time a slim man with dark skin and a bright smile for Jonah.

"You're up, buddy." Jonah let go of Kinga and smiled hopefully at her.

"Maybe I'll see you at the cuddle puddle."

"Maybe," she said, and he disappeared into the dim room. She had just a glimpse inside and found a floor covered in mattresses and a pile of pillows about twice as large as the man sitting in the middle of the pile before Jonah closed the door behind him. Kinga leaned on the wall next to the door and closed her eyes. On this side of the door, there was plenty to hear: the thwacks and cries of the impact players, the gradient of pleasure to pain coloring the voices of those in the middle of scenes, the creak of rope and pulley from the suspension station, and some sounds she couldn't identify from the time she'd spent wandering around sampling sensations. From within the room, though, she couldn't hear a thing, even when she pressed her ear to the door. Not even a murmur of voices.

There was no one behind her in line now, and Kinga felt a little silly standing there waiting for a hug, but... damn it, the hug Jonah had given her was great, and if she could get more of that but better, she'd wait. Impatiently, but she'd wait.

...

When Jonah closed the door he paused for a moment with his head lowered and took a deep breath before he turned around, amping up his smile before it could be seen.

"Jonah! I'm glad to see you," Max said, and patted the pile of pillows next to him. "C'mere. Oh, you look tired." Most of the people wandering the event were in underwear or less; Max was more modest in a soft pair of pajama pants. Jonah had never seen him in less than that in the six months they’d known each other.

"I am tired," Jonah admitted, practically bellyflopping into the nest at Max's side, and he buried his face in a pillow for a second and yelled into it. Max patted his back gently until he lifted his head. "I've been looking forward to this for eleven days," he said.

"I saw you twelve days ago."

"That's the point."

"You can call me, you know." Max tugged at Jonah until he was properly arranged, lanky limbs folded up around Max and his head on Max's chest. The second or third time they'd cuddled, Max had explained about skin hunger and the need for direct contact, but Jonah hadn't needed to be sold on snuggling into Max's solid, comforting chest and huffing the warmth of his skin like a kid sniffing markers. "You don't have to wait for something scheduled. I'll make time for you if you need me."

"You're busy," Jonah mumbled, and he sighed deeply when Max ran his fingers through messy dark hair. "I don't want to bother you."

"Sweetheart, you're not a bother. You're a delight."

"I'm not delightful these days."

"I'll be the judge of that," Max said firmly. He scratched lightly at the nape of Jonah's neck and Jonah melted into him. "You're stressed out. Your job sucks. The world is chaos. But that doesn't make _you_ any less fantastic. All you can do is be a good person, and you do that."

"It's getting harder," Jonah murmured. "Being good. Doing the right thing. I'm starting to think asshole thoughts and I don't like it but I can't stop it."

"Do you act on these thoughts?"

"No! No way."

"Is it tempting?"

"No. I feel grimy after I think them." Max's hand stilled on Jonah's neck, and then Max tugged his hair gently until Jonah looked up at him.

"Jonah, honey.... you're a good man. It's not in your nature to be hurtful. That's one of the reasons I like you."

"You have multiple reasons?" Max huffed a laugh that made his chest jump under Jonah's head.

"I don't think it counts as fishing for compliments when you need to hear good things about yourself in this kind of mood, so: You're ridiculously smart but you're not pedantic or boring about it. Your height to cuteness ratio is absurd, you shouldn't be possible. You're the only person I know that I don't mind being scruffy when we cuddle. You bring me random things that remind you of me and it's adorable." To his surprise, Jonah's eyes started tearing up, and Max made a soft sympathetic sound and kissed his forehead. "Do you want to spend the night tonight?"

"With you?"

"I can't offer for anyone else."

"Like... at your place?"

"That's what I had in mind, yeah."

"Just the two of us?"

"Don't worry, I'm not going to take advantage of you when you're vulnerable," Max said, and Jonah snorted.

"I wish you would." Then he realized what he said and froze. Max's hand hesitated in its petting for just a second before picking it back up, a little more firmly this time.

"Well, that's interesting information to have." Jonah whimpered and pressed his face into Max's chest. "Hey, no, don't hide. You're fine."

"I'm not fine."

"You aren't. But I want you to be. And I think you'll be closer to fine tomorrow if you stay with me tonight."

"I'm sorry I said that."

"I'm not sorry. I like it when you're honest with me."

"Yeah, but you're not-- like that."

"Hmm?"

"Not the kind of person to take advantage."

"Nope. Antithetical to who I am. I'm in the business of building people up, not undermining them."

"You can't stop even when you're not in your office."

"Well, this isn't exactly a therapy tactic I can use in my practice."

"I'd pay you a hundred bucks an hour to fix my brain while you hold me."

"I don't want your money. Just your affection."

"How much of my affection?"

"I honestly can't tell if that's flirtation or fear in your voice. Look at me?" Jonah looked up, wide-eyed and still watery, and a complicated emotion crossed Max's face before he gathered Jonah up in his arms and kissed his hair. "As much of it as you're willing to share with me."

"I thought you didn't... get involved with people."

"I'm not a saint and I'm way too fond of you. And anyways, I am involved with people. Just not sexually."

"But... would you want to be? With me?"

"Emphatically yes." Jonah shivered a little and wrapped himself around Max a little tighter. "But not tonight."

"What about tomorrow morning?"

"We'll see what happens in the morning." Somewhere in the nest of pillows, Max's phone began to beep, and he squeezed the back of Jonah's neck lightly. "Was there anyone else waiting?"

"Yeah. Some new girl. She seemed pretty prickly, but I gave her a hug and she got all quiet, so... who knows. You're practically supernatural in getting people to relax. Maybe she'll dig it." Jonah pulled back reluctantly and flopped onto his back with a long sigh. "I don't want to leave."

"You can come back later, you know. Crow was here earlier and he said something about a new set of soy candles..."

"How do you remember everything I tell you in passing?"

"You didn't even tell me that. I heard you talking to Terry about it."

"But you remembered it."

"I did say I'm way too fond of you. And the thought of you splashed with candle wax is... something I wouldn't mind seeing for real." Jonah's eyes widened, and Max bit his lip on a smile. "Go on, this poor girl's been waiting. You'll be back inside the hour anyways."

"Fine," Jonah playfully whined, slowly picking himself up from the pillow pile before stretching with his hands laced behind his back. Max made a small stifled sound, and Jonah arched a brow at him.

"I'm _really_ looking forward to getting more thoroughly acquainted with your body," Max said shamelessly. "Do you do yoga? I think it would be _fascinating_ to watch you do yoga."

"I'll do it if you do it too," Jonah said, and Max grinned.

"Deal." He pointed at the door. "Go before I can't let you go."

"See you later," Jonah said, and pulled the door open to find Kinga with her chin tucked to her chest, looking down at her own painted toenails. "Sorry about the wait."

"Hey, whatever. I'm gonna get my curiosity satisfied and then go do something more advanced." She looked up at him and her nose wrinkled. "Are you doing drugs in there? Everyone comes out with the dopiest look on their face."

"This is a drug-free event."

"Even behind closed doors?"

"Zero tolerance," Jonah said. "The only mind altering substance in there is oxytocin, and you make it yourself."

"Yeah, okay," she said, rolling her eyes as she brushed past him and into the room, pushing the door shut behind her. She stopped and crossed her arms over her bare breasts, studying Max critically. He gave her a smile and a wave of one hand.

"Hi. I'm Max."

"I'm Kinga."

"Hello, Kinga. How's your night going?"

"I mean, I'm in a room with a strange man trying to get a hug, so... Reply hazy, try again later." He huffed a laugh and patted the pillows next to him.

"I promise not to shake you for a better answer." She smirked and picked her way through the pile, settling next to him but not touching him. "What would you like me to know about you?"

"Huh?"

"What's important for me to know to understand you?"

"What are you, a therapist?"

"Yes. Exactly that. Come on, I'm not trying to psychoanalyze you, I just want to get to know you a little before I put my arms around you. Tell me three things about you."

"Uh... I'm twenty-nine, I work in a chemical engineering lab, and I'm an only child."

"Okay. Interesting."

"What about you?" she asked, still holding herself apart from him. When he realized she wasn't going to get closer he shifted and propped his head on one hand.

"I'm turning forty next month, I already told you I'm a therapist, and I'm an only child too." He held out his other hand to her. "Would you be more comfortable holding hands first?"

"I'm not a middle schooler," she said irritably. "I just... don't really get close to people. Much. At all." He nodded, and she frowned at him. "I don't even know why I'm here."

"Because you're curious. Obviously. That's why anyone does anything for the first time at an event like this. To satisfy their curiosity." She frowned a little deeper, but edged closer in the pile of pillows until her arm was touching his chest. "Can I hold you now?" he asked gently, and she nodded. "C'mere... put your head here. Yeah, like that." She ended up half on top of him with his arms wrapped around her, and he hummed quietly, nose pressed to her hair. "What's your shampoo? That's really nice."

"Uh... Pomegranate? Maybe?"

"I wouldn't cast you as Persephone descending, but maybe that's a failure of imagination on my part."

"Oh please," she said, not nearly as annoyed as she was trying to sound. "I could be the Queen of Hell easily."

"Mm... now we're talking about different parts of the myth. She was different before and after she descended." He started running his fingers through her hair slowly, careful not to snag her tangles, and she sighed and buried her face in his shoulder. "Are you interested in mythology?"

"I used to be."

"You know the story, at least."

"She got stolen by Hades and that's why we have winter. Because her mother is in mourning for half the year."

"That's the most simplistic interpretation, sure. I prefer the version where she goes of her own free will."

"I haven't heard that one."

"Before she went to the underworld, she was called Kore. The maiden. She was the goddess of flowers." Kinga scoffed, and he stifled a laugh into her hair. "But she was willful. One day she was wandering and found an entrance to the underworld, and at the bottom she found Hades. And they were happy together until her mother demanded she return above."

"Are you sure this is a legitimate version? Cause it sounds like some Hallmark Channel bullshit."

"Shh. Kore didn't want to go back to deal with her mother, so she came up with a scheme that meant she'd get to spend half the year with her love and half the year with her mother. When she made that decision, she became something new. And _that_ is why we have winter. Because Persephone chaos-bringer is living in marital bliss and her mom is pissed."

"Where did you hear that?"

"Oh, I don't know. I read a lot. And mythology can be surprisingly revealing of human failings that haven't really changed in millennia."

"So what myth shows off your human failings?"

"Cupid and Psyche," he said instantly. "But I'm Psyche. I know too much to be content with what I'm told to believe, but finding out more usually ends up with me getting hurt. But I can't help doing it." Kinga fell silent, not having expected an honest answer, and Max's nails scratched gently at her scalp, making her sigh with pleasure. "I just have to hope that there's some kind of ambrosia at the end of the trials. A love strong enough to justify the years I've spent in its pursuit."

"That's sappy as fuck," Kinga said, but there was no bite behind her words. "Is that why you're a cuddle slut? Trying to find that love?"

"Excuse me," he said. "I'm not a cuddle slut. If anything, I'm a cuddle top, okay? There's nothing slutty about what I do."

"Hmph. Whatever you say."

"And to answer your question, no. I do this because it makes me happy to make other people happy. And I make a lot of people happy on nights like this."

"It looks like you're getting people high in here from how they come out. They all look dazed."

"Dazed but happy."

"Yeah, I guess."

"I mean, if you absolutely have to compare it to drug use, I get why it’s a useful analogy, but cuddling is legal and has no side effects and lots of benefits."

"You're a hug dealer." He laughed, both hands stroking slowly up and down her back, and she tried not to purr. "I just don't believe that something so easy is so beneficial."

"Oh, tons of easy things are really beneficial. Drinking water. Walking more. Stretching every day. Totally free, totally easy things that most people just don't do. A lot of it is basic maintenance and I think hugs qualify under that header."

"Basic maintenance?"

"Sure. People need to be touched. We're social creatures. Even the antisocial ones among us. People who don’t get touched start to go crazy. It’s called skin hunger or touch hunger. A lack of touch can manifest as depression or aggression.” She lifted her head to give him a skeptical look that he returned as a solemn one. “It’s a real problem in modern society.”

“Skin hunger,” she echoed, and ran her hand along his bare arm up to his shoulder. “Is that why you do this at this sort of event? Because people are either naked or almost naked?”

“A little bit,” he said. “I do throw cuddle parties that people usually opt to be more clothed for. But some of the people I see over and over at Impression are ones that don’t have partners, or only have close friends that aren’t physically affectionate, and… honestly, I like being skin-to-skin. It’s a vulnerable position to be in and it soothes people shockingly quickly.” Kinga hummed and put her head back on his shoulder, and his hands kept moving on her back and shoulders, slow and soothing and perfectly innocent. “What do you think?” he asked quietly. “You seem to be enjoying yourself.”

“I am,” she said, surprise coloring her voice. “I guess I’m really skin hungry. This is… better than I thought it would be.” 

“Good, I’m glad.” One hand came up to pet her hair, and she sighed against the side of his neck. 

“So what do you get out of this?”

“I already told you that.”

“Not really. Doesn’t your wife object to you cuddling strange people?”

“I don’t have a wife. Or a husband. Or a non-binary spouse. I have a cat, and she doesn’t care.”

“Oh.”

“I might have a boyfriend, but I won’t know that for sure until… tomorrow at least, probably.”

“Wait, is it Jonah? Because he looked way happier when he left than the people who left before him.” Max startled and then laughed.

“You’re perceptive.”

“He really likes you, you know. He said he trusts you.”

“I want everyone I cuddle with to trust me.” 

“You seem… easy to trust.”

“Well, that is literally my job. Getting people to trust me enough to open up about their problems.”

“Hmm.” She shifted atop him, then lifted her head. “Could you hold me some other way?”

“Sure thing. Are you uncomfortable?”

“No, I just… kind of don’t want you to be able to look me in the face if I’m actually going to tell you about any of my problems.” He brightened and patted the pillows next to them.

“If you want to curl up on your side, I can curl up behind you.” 

“You’re not gonna like, stick your boner against my butt or anything?”

“I don’t do that,” he said. “That’s the kind of thing that makes people suspicious of cuddling. I don’t have ulterior motives. I just like to make people feel better. Not to make them uncomfortable.” She curled up as directed without any more prompting, and he spooned up behind her, wrapping an arm around her waist. His breath was very warm on the back of her neck and she sighed and leaned back against him. “Was there something you wanted to talk about?”

“I don’t have any friends,” she said, picking up a pillow from the pile and digging her fingers into it. “I moved here a few months ago. None of my old friends wanted to keep in touch with me. I haven’t met anyone outside of work. I thought… I thought this event would help me get out of my head. Or that it would be an easier way to get laid the way I like than trawling Tinder.”

“And how did that work out for you?”

“Not the way I thought it would.”

“It’s not easy to integrate into a new scene, whether it’s the kink scene or any other type of way people interact with each other. It takes time and patience.”

“It takes being likeable,” she said. “And I’m not.”

“Don’t be so hard on yourself.”

“You’ve known me for all of fifteen minutes. Trust me when I say I’m not a likeable person.”

“Are you unlikeable because you’re a misanthrope, or are you unlikeable because you’re a bad person?”

“A little bit of both, and then some.”

“As long as you’re not a Republican, it’s forgivable.” She snorted and wrapped her arms around the pillow she was torturing.

“Not one of my many crimes.”

“Do you want to be a likeable person?” That, she had to put some thought into. He held her quietly while she thought it over.

“I think I do, but I think it might be too late.”

“It’s never too late to change yourself if you’re willing to put in the work. It’s hard, but it’s within your capabilities, if you’re serious about it.”

“Well…” She hesitated, then laughed. “Do you know any good therapists?”

“I might be able to make a recommendation,” he said dryly. “I’m afraid this method of therapy isn’t covered by insurance, but if you need someone to talk to, I’ve got a network.”

“What if I wanted to talk to you?”

“I am taking new patients right now. But you’d have to look at me while you talk to me if you see me in my office.” A quiet beeping started, and Max fumbled blindly behind him to turn off the alarm on his phone. “Ah. Usually I’d end things here.”

“I’m sure you have other things you want to do. I can’t keep you all night.”

“I actually do, tonight. Not always. But I have a feeling something very interesting is happening right now that I’d like to witness.” He let go of her, and Kinga sighed and rolled onto her front, burying her head in a pillow. “You can stay here, if you don’t want to go back out there,” he offered. “I’ll be back in half an hour for the cuddle puddle. You can stay until then, or you can stay for it, if you like.”

“No, I can’t stay in one room my first night here.” She climbed out of the pillow pile on one side, and he came off it on the other side. He dug around in a messenger bag for a moment and then turned around with a pair of wire-rimmed glasses sitting on his nose. “Oh. You definitely look more like a therapist with those on.”

“Being nearsighted is fine for cuddling, but I’m not inclined to miss any details of what I hope I’m in time to see.” He opened the door and peeked out, then opened it all the way. “Looks like I’m not in demand. Good.” She followed him out the door and then kept following him as he walked through the big play room and past most of its stations until they found Jonah flat on his back on a bench that was nowhere near long enough for his lanky frame. Behind him was a golden-haired man with wide-set, manic eyes and a lit candle in his hands, who set the candle down.

“Max! Please tell me you’re here to play with me. That would be such a coup.”

“Not this time, Crow,” Max said easily, like it was a long-running joke. “I just wanted to make sure that Jonah found you.”

“Oh, yeah, totally. I just finished with someone else, we’ve barely got started here.” Crow jerked a thumb at the colorful row of candles burning behind him. “Sure you’re out? You can hold the candle…” Kinga’s brow furrowed at Max’s reaction: he closed his eyes and swallowed and took a slow breath before opening them again.

“I’ll pass today.” On the bench, Jonah had lifted his head, and he looked a little dismayed at Max’s words. Crow nodded at Kinga and grinned.

“What about you? You’d look pretty spattered in wax.”

“I’ll think about it,” she said, and Crow smirked.

“A maybe’s better than a no.”

“You already have someone waiting,” Jonah pointed out, poking Crow’s thigh where he was standing close to the head of the bench, and Crow rolled his eyes.

“Yeah, yeah. God, Jonah, you’re so demanding.” Max stifled a laugh behind one hand.

“Don’t listen to him, Jonah.”

“He should listen to me, I’m always right,” Crow said, picking up a red candle and dipping his fingertip into the melted wax to test it. “Ready, beanstalk?”

“I’ve been ready,” Jonah said. “You’re the hold-up here.”

“Oh no you di’n’t,” Crow said, and poured a line of the wax along Jonah’s solar plexus. Jonah’s head fell back against the bench and he made a very interesting sound that got the full attention of both Kinga and Max, the latter of whom bit one finger thoughtfully while he watched the scene get started. Crow chewed on his lip, glanced back at the candles, and then picked a blue one. "I do have to say that Jonah is fun to play with,” he said conversationally as he trickled wax over one of Jonah’s nipples and dragged a groan out of his throat for his troubles. “He’s not the kind of guy who stifles what he feels. Some people try to be hard or badass or whatever in this situation. But it’s not about pain. It’s about…” He dripped wax over the other nipple and grinned when Jonah whimpered. “ _Sensation_.”

“Do you have to narrate?” Jonah asked weakly, and Crow shrugged. 

“I’m a natural showman, you know. And we have an attentive audience. And I’m complimenting you, dickweed.”

“ _That_ wasn’t a compliment,” Kinga pointed out, and Crow rolled his eyes and picked up a yellow candle.

“Don’t tell me how to play with my friends, new girl.”

“My name is Kinga.”

“Yeah, well, you don’t know me or my backhanded terms of endearment.” He turned his nose up at her and then started spattering a constellation of yellow wax drops across Jonah’s belly, which twitched every time a drop hit it. “Anyways, as I was saying. This isn’t meant to hurt. That’s why I use soy candles. They have a lower melting point. Still hot enough to feel shocking when it hits, but not hot enough to leave burns behind.”

“You burned me the first time I played with you,” Jonah pointed out, and Crow rolled his eyes again.

“Look, it was just a little arm hair, you barely got singed. And that’s what you got for flailing around instead of keeping still. You’re like one of those floppy arm things they put outside of used car lots. You just…” Crow put down the candle and then demonstrated his imitation of Jonah, long arms going all over the place. “No discipline whatsoever.”

“Go back to complimenting me, I like that better.”

“Yeah, I just bet you do.” Crow picked up a green candle and contemplated his human canvas for a moment before he started drawing lines between the blue and yellow wax, crisscrossing Jonah’s stomach with an incoherent pattern. “You have become a much better play partner since the beginning of the year. And I am a little bit sorry that I burned you on New Year’s Eve, that was kind of fucked up.”

“It’s fine,” Jonah said. “If you hadn’t done that, I wouldn’t have panicked, and if I hadn’t panicked, Max wouldn’t have come to my rescue, and if that hadn’t happened we wouldn’t be--” He cut himself off, but Crow’s wide eyes had gone even wider.

“You wouldn’t be _what_?” Jonah shot a deer-in-the-headlights look at Max, who was unruffled.

“We wouldn’t be close with each other now, and I’m very glad that we are close,” Max said calmly. Crow turned a suspicious look on him and looked between Max and Jonah a few times.

“What are you doing to this poor sweet cinnamon roll?”

“Which one of them are you talking about?” Kinga asked, and Crow scoffed.

“This guy’s a social mastermind,” he said, pointing at Max. “Watch out. His job is getting inside people’s heads. He’s not a cinnamon roll. He’s an evil genius.”

“I think that’s going a bit far,” Max said. “I’ll accept genius, but I’m not evil.”

“He’s not doing anything to me,” Jonah said. Kinga felt like there was a heavily implied _yet_ after his words, but Crow just shook his head and picked up a purple candle.

“I’m warning you, Max. I know where you work.”

“And I know what meds you’re on,” Max shot back. “Don’t be a jerk, Crow.”

“Are you _jealous_?” Kinga asked suddenly, and Crow went bright red.

“That’s-- that’s ridiculous,” he stuttered, but he put the candle back down without spilling any of the wax. “I don’t know where you’d get such a stupid idea. Me? Jealous? I don’t get jealous. Jealousy is for monogamous people.”

“Oh, are you poly?” 

“Yeah.”

“You’re totally jealous. It’s in your eyes. If Jonah doesn’t know that you want him I don’t know how he missed it.” Crow’s mouth opened and shut a couple of times, and then he leaned over, blew all his candles out, and walked away without another word. Jonah sat up with a look of total confusion on his face.

“What are you talking about? Crow doesn’t want me. He’s not into people who are taller than him.”

“Is that what he told you?” Kinga asked, skepticism writ large on her expression. “Do you just accept everything you’re told?”

“No, but--”

“You were telling the truth about yourself,” Max said. “I don’t know if I’d outright say you’re a bad person, but you are a highly effective shit stirrer, aren’t you?”

“I pride myself on it,” she said.

“I can tell,” he replied dryly. “You’re not allowed in the cuddle puddle if you’re going to sow discord.”

“Oh, I can behave.” 

“Can you? Because Crow and his partners all come to the cuddle puddle.”

“Yeah, yeah, I’ll keep my mouth shut. Quiet cuddling. I can probably manage that.” 

“Okay. Well, it’s almost midnight, so that’s where I’m going.”

“Wait for me,” Jonah said, slowly peeling the wax off himself with a few winces, and Max stayed, watching a little too intently while Jonah divested himself of the remnants of his interrupted scene. “You don’t really think he’s jealous, do you?” he asked when they headed back to the pillow pile. 

“In general? Yeah, he absolutely is. About you specifically? I wouldn’t have called it,” Max said. “But his reaction was telling.”

“I’m telling you, I have a sixth sense about crushes people want no one to know about. He’s thirsty for a tall drink of water,” Kinga said, and Jonah sighed and covered his face with both hands until they reached the cuddle room and found it already occupied. Kinga recognized Synthia from before she’d met Max, and she was sprawled on the pillows next to a bony-looking guy with deep shadows under his eyes.

“Welcome back,” Max said as he removed his glasses and resumed his place in the center of the pillow pile. “Synthia, Terry, this is Kinga.”

“I knew you’d come back,” Synthia said with a smirk. She sat up a little while Jonah cuddled up to Max’s side, then plastered herself along Jonah’s back with a happy sigh. “Pick a person and cuddle up,” she told Kinga, who was still standing by the door uncertainly. 

“I don’t know anyone well enough.” Max held out the arm on the side Jonah wasn’t occupying, and she hesitated.

“Come on, it’s okay. The first rule of cuddle club is if it’s your first time at cuddle club, you get to be in the middle of the cuddle puddle.” She nodded and picked her way through the pillows to settle in with him, and Jonah made a playful face at her from the other side of Max’s chest.

“Don’t start any drama,” Jonah said, and Kinga shrugged as three more people came in: Crow, the dark-skinned man she’d seen leaving this room before Jonah came into it, and a woman with vibrantly purple hair wearing nothing but an intricate rope harness. Crow looked dismayed to see Kinga there.

“Crow, Tom, Gypsum, this is Kinga,” Max said, and Tom offered her a grin.

“Hi there. Do you want your space or do you mind if I cuddle you?”

“I guess that’s okay,” she said, and he sat down next to her and stretched out. She watched Gypsum cuddle up with Terry and Crow lay his head across both their laps, Terry’s fingers going straight into golden hair, and then closed her eyes and listened to Max’s heartbeat instead of watching a few more people filter into the room. He introduced her to every one that came in, and she opened her eyes long enough to fix a face to each name: Beez, Brian, Cam, Flavia, and then she dozed off a little and lost track. It wasn’t silent, people were murmuring quietly to each other as the group cuddle slowly dissolved into sleepy kinksters nodding off against each others’ shoulders, but Kinga couldn’t make out what anyone was saying over the thud of Max’s heart under her right ear. She’d never been in a pile of mostly naked bodies before, but it was surprisingly relaxing.

A soft beeping came from Max’s bag after a while, and a groan of complaint rose from a dozen voices annoyed to have to put on clothes and go home from this peaceful puddle. Slowly they untangled themselves and left in ones and twos until only Jonah, Kinga, and Max were left. Max sighed and sat up.

“Do you have a way home?” he asked Kinga, and she shrugged. 

“I’m going to call a Lyft.”

“I could give you a ride.”

“You don’t have to do that. I’m probably out of your way.” She pointed her chin at Jonah. “What about him?”

“I usually drive Jonah home,” Max said.

“I take the bus in,” Jonah said. “You should let him drive you. It’s nice to have a little cool-down conversation before going home.”

“I mean, if you’re both going to insist,” she said. “Let me go get my clothes. Should I come back here?”

“Yeah, I’ll wait for you both here,” Max said, and she went off to retrieve her belongings. Jonah hung back, reluctant to let go of Max, who laughed quietly and stroked his hair. “Still want to come home with me?”

“Please,” Jonah said. “If you haven’t changed your mind.”

“I think we’re both still in accord about this,” Max said fondly. “Are you going to get your clothes, or are you riding shotgun in your skivvies?”

“Mmmrph,” Jonah said, burying his face in Max’s shoulder for a second. “Yeah. One second. I just-- don’t really want to let go of you.”

“Do you have to work tomorrow?”

“No. I always take the day after Impression off.”

“Then I promise you will have plenty of time to hold me when we get back to my place. Now go on.” Max gave Jonah a gentle nudge and he got to his feet with a sigh, leaving the room with a backwards glance at Max. All Max could do as he pulled on his glasses and t-shirt was smile. He never knew what would happen on any given Impression night, but this had been a particularly surprising one.


	2. kitten play with sharp claws

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kinga got a fresh manicure and she wants to sharpen her claws on Jonah, who is 100% down for that. It's not all she wants from him, but she might get more if that's okay with everyone who's involved. Talking things out is pretty easy where Max is concerned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A smoochtober challenge ficlet became an honest to god chapter. I have no self control.

"Hey. Jonah." There was a tap low on his back, and Jonah turned to find Kinga behind him. Impression had just opened for the night; no one had even had a chance to disrobe yet. Kinga was wearing a black peacoat and huge fuck-off boots that still didn't let her clear Jonah's shoulders.   
  
"Oh! You came back!"  
  
"You did say you wouldn't mind seeing me again."  
  
"And I meant it." When Jonah turned back to Crow, his former conversational partner was nowhere to be found. Well, Kinga had pretty thoroughly removed herself from Crow's esteem last month, her first night at Impression being all she needed to completely blow up Crow's spot regarding his crush on Jonah. Kinga snorted when he turned back to her.  
  
"You're still talking to him?"  
  
"Uh, yes? We're good friends."  
  
"Yeah, that's not all he wants to be to you."  
  
"Okay, so? That doesn't negate our friendship." He pushed his glasses up and tilted his head at her. "Did you need me or were you just scaring him off for your own enjoyment?"  
  
"I did enjoy it, but I wanted to talk to you."  
  
"What's up?" Kinga hesitated for a second, then lifted her chin.  
  
"I wanted to try something tonight. I was wondering if you'd play with me."  
  
"What's the thing you want to try?" he asked suspiciously. She reached into her purse and slid a headband with pointed calico ears on.  
  
"Kitten play." Jonah's brows shot up and he smirked.  
  
"Weren't you the one who was so dismissive of cute and cuddly kinks last month?"  
  
"I'm not planning on it being totally cute and cuddly," she said, holding up one hand with flawlessly manicured pointed nails. "I just got these done today and I was hoping you'd let me use them on you." He took her hand and ran a fingertip over her nails, and then smirked a little harder.  
  
"You can use me as a scratching post if I get to pet you first."  
  
"Deal." She laced her fingers through his and pulled him. "Come on, let's ditch the clothes and find a good place for this." He pulled her in the other direction and she let him lead her to the cuddle lair, which was empty when they arrived. "This place again."  
  
"It's a good place to leave our stuff," Jonah said. "And a good place to be, just in general. I don't think Max will mind, he won't be here for a while yet cause he's running late tonight." He unzipped his hoodie and shrugged it off, then folded it neatly. Kinga rolled her eyes but took off her peacoat and bent over to start unlacing her boots, wiggling a little as she got them off. Jonah kept his back politely turned while they disrobed, until she tapped him on the back again and he turned around to find her wearing nothing but the cat ears and a pair of black panties with a calico tail pinned to them.   
  
"Put this on me," she said, holding out a purple velvet ribbon with a silver bell attached to it, and Jonah ran his thumb over the pleasant texture of it as he held it up to look at it.  
  
"That seems a bit serious." She rolled her eyes and huffed.  
  
"It's not a  _collaring_ , for fuck's sake. You're not going to be responsible for me or anything. It's just for fun. I can put it on myself if you're going to be weird about it."  
  
"No, I was mostly joking. Come here..." Just out of curiosity, he put his hand around her throat, and her lashes fluttered.  
  
"Now  _that's_  a bit serious," she purred, tilting her head back and pressing forward into his touch. "God, your hands are huge. If I keep showing up to these I'm definitely going to have you put them around my throat for far more serious than this."  
  
"I'm not really into that," Jonah said, stroking the side of her neck with his fingertips before he gently fastened the ribbon around it.   
  
"No? That's a shame." She tossed her head and the bell jingled. Her nails pressed delicately into his chest as she put both hands on him and looked up at him with a smile. "Meow," she said, and he laughed.  
  
"Good kitty," he said, and she showed her teeth in what was clearly not meant to be a smile any more. "Evil kitty?" She headbutted his chest, and he dug a hand into her hair and scratched behind the headband's ears. "I can deal with evil kitty." He sat down in the pillow pile and Kinga curled up on his lap, purring gently as he stroked all the way down her back and teased her right above her velvety tail. "So is this the kind of kitten play where you sass me or the kind where you want me to tell you that you're a pretty kitty?" She kneaded his thigh with both hands, the prick of her nails barely dulled where two of them dug in where his boxer-briefs covered his leg, and he tugged her hair, not hard. "Hey, I said you had to wait to scratch me. Come here, sit up. I'd like to negotiate this more."  
  
"Oh, fine," she sighed, but when she sat up she did so straddling his thighs. The bell jingled as she tossed her head and stared at him.  
  
"I'm sorry if I wasn't being clear when I said that I wanted to pet you first. I had more of an extensive cuddle in mind."  
  
"I told you I wasn't thinking cute and cuddly." She hesitated a second, then put  her hands against his chest lightly. "But you said cuddling was a trust thing last time."  
  
"Yes, I did," Jonah said, eyes widening.   
  
"And we didn't actually cuddle each other last time."  
  
"No, we didn't."  
  
"I don't want you to be right when you call me a bad play partner."  
  
"You're not a bad play partner, you just rush into things."  
  
"Yeah. Sorry, I am... really new at this... whole scene thing."  
  
"It's okay. Negotiation's supposed to be the first step, we just jumped the gun a little. I'd just like to snuggle for a little while before you get your claws into me. And please don't like, maul me? Leaving a few scratch marks is okay but don't wound me."  
  
"I'll take it easy on you," she said. "I want you to want to do this again."   
  
"This would have to go disastrously wrong for me to not want to." Jonah re-settled himself in the pillow pile and held his arms open. "So... you never answered me what kind of kitten play this is."  
  
"Let's start with you telling me I'm a pretty kitty and see where it goes from there," she suggested, stretching out fully atop him and rubbing her smooth cheek against his scruffy one. As soon as he wrapped his arms around her, she melted into him with a sigh.  
  
"You are an absolutely beautiful kitten," Jonah murmured into her ear. "You've got the most gorgeous green cat's-eyes, the softest ginger fur..." He ran his fingers through her hair and she started to purr. "The most dangerous claws on your cute little kitten mittens," he added playfully, and she pressed her nails against his ribs in warning. "That was a compliment, not an invitation."  
  
"Hmph." Kinga moved her hands to his shoulders, doing something that was about sixty percent kneading and forty percent backrub, and Jonah hummed appreciatively, sweeping one hand slowly up and down her back.   
  
"That's nice. Good kitty." Jonah closed his eyes and inhaled with his nose pressed into her hair, one hand curled over the back of her neck that fell away as she pulled back. He opened his eyes with a question on his lips only to find her a breath away from claiming them, and he let her kiss him once just to see how she'd do it, whether she'd be bratty or sweet about it. She tasted like a caramel macchiato, and she scraped her teeth over his lip without actually biting. "Kinga..."   
  
"Sorry," she said, and pulled back wide-eyed and pink-cheeked, bell jingling sharply. "I shouldn't-- I should've asked. Sorry."   
  
"Yes, you should have."  
  
"Would you have let me?"  
  
"Yes, if you'd actually asked."   
  
"...can I do it again?" He leaned up to kiss her instead of answering, and she buried both hands in his hair and scratched gently with her pointed nails.  
  
"You are  _not_  trustworthy," Jonah whimpered. "But you are very interesting." She gave him a cat-that-ate-the-canary smirk and kept scratching until he flopped back into the pillows and brought her with him. "How much kissing are you looking for here?"  
  
"How much more cuddling are you looking for here?" she shot back.  
  
"A few minutes, maybe?"  
  
"One kiss now and one more before I scratch you."  
  
"Sounds good." This kiss was the best yet, with both of them on the same page, and Kinga pressed her lips to his scruffy cheek on her way to put her head on his shoulder and settle in to be snuggly. She sighed deeply into the bend of his neck. "I kinda wish you were into the cuddling for its own sake, but I'll take what I can get," he said into her hair, and she snorted.   
  
"I might not be totally dismissive of the cuddling," she murmured as he resumed stroking her back. "You're comfy to curl up on. I-- mmm." She cut herself off by pushing her face against his neck, and his hand paused for a moment and then resumed petting her.  
  
"You what?"  
  
"I like you," she mumbled. "You've been really nice to me. I like the way you hold me."  
  
"Oh." He hugged her a little tighter and kissed the top of her head. "Well, I like holding you."  
  
"Do you-- no, nevermind."  
  
"What?"  
  
"What's the deal with you and Max? I couldn't figure that out last month."  
  
"Oh, uh, we're-- we're dating now, he's my boyfriend."  
  
"So you're exclusive?"  
  
"I mean, we're both allowed to play with other people. I think he likes it when I do, actually."  
  
"Yeah, but..." She huffed into his neck and then lifted her head to look at him. "What if I wanted you to fuck me?"  
  
"I, uh--" Jonah blinked. "Do you? Want me to?"  
  
"I mean, the whole reason I came to this thing was to get laid without having to resort to Tinder." Her eyes narrowed. "Unless you're not into women like that. I have only seen you playing with other men."  
  
"I'm bi, for the record." He studied her expression carefully, then shrugged. "We didn't discuss that. I'd have to ask him how he felt about it."  
  
"Oh."   
  
"But I will ask him. If you want me to."  
  
"Yeah. If you could."   
  
"I will, then."   
  
"Okay. Cool." She leaned in slowly, and he leaned up to meet her halfway in a kiss that ended with them both melted, Jonah into the pillows and Kinga into Jonah, languid and affectionate. She purred and nuzzled the side of his throat. "Can I scratch you now?"  
  
"Yeah, sure thing." Jonah didn't stop stroking her back until she sat next to him instead of on top of him, and then he sat up. "How do you want me? Sitting or facedown or standing or--"  
  
"Sitting's fine," she said. "Just turn around." He did as he was told, and quickly felt the prick of her nails on his shoulders as she lined her claws up. "Ready?" He nodded, and she slowly dragged her nails all the way down his broad back, from the nape of his neck to the waist of his boxer-briefs. A whole-body tremor ran through him, and he made a breathy sound that was distinctly not one of pain. "Yeah?"  
  
"Definitely yeah."  
  
"Good." She started to purr again, tracing her nails back up to where she'd begun and setting her hands more widely spaced before raking them down at a languorous pace.  
  
"Mmm." Jonah's head fell forward with his pleased hum, and then snapped back up when the door to the cuddle lair opened to admit Max into his domain. He paused in the doorway, took in the scene, and then stepped inside and closed the door behind him.  
  
"That explains why I couldn't find you," Max said cheerfully, setting down his messenger bag and shrugging off his coat off to one side of the room. "Don't stop on my account." Kinga looked at him for a long moment, and he smiled at her. "You make a very cute kitten."   
  
"Prrrr," she said with a smirk, and set her hands on Jonah's shoulders again. Jonah looked up at Max and his eyes went wide when Kinga clawed her way down either side of his spine. Max turned pink at the pleased whimper that escaped Jonah,  and when he kicked out of his shoes and pulled off his sweater he settled in the pillows near but apart from Kinga and Jonah, watching with keen interest as Kinga left pink stripes down the length of Jonah's back.  
  
"Oh," Jonah said, and he reached out a hand to Max, who took it instantly. "Kinga wanted me to ask if you'd be okay with me being more intimate with her while I'm dating you."  
  
"More intimate like also dating her, or more intimate like having sex with her?" It seemed like a simple question, but Kinga's claws left Jonah's skin and both men ended up blinking at her for an answer.  
  
"I don't-- I'm not polyamorous," she said. "I don't want to  _date_  you, I just think you'll be good in the sack, okay? I'm not looking for a commitment. I'm looking for a fun time with someone who seems trustworthy," She seemed shaken by the question that had been posed. Max studied her and then shrugged.  
  
"If the two of you want to have sex, go for it. Just don't try to steal him from me, please, I'm very fond of him and would like to keep him." Kinga lit up, and Max added, "And not in the pillow pile, please. The cuddle lair is not a place for fluid exchange. And be safe, please."  
  
"We can do that," Jonah said, pulling Max's hand up to kiss the back of it. "Thanks, Max."  
  
"Thank me by spilling the details once you've done the deed," Max said. "You know I like to hear about you playing with other people."  
  
"I know you like  _watching_  me playing with other people," Jonah said, and Kinga snorted and leaned against his back to hook her chin over his shoulder.  
  
"I'd rather not have an audience for that," she said.  
  
"I figured," Max said. "You don't give off the exhibitionist vibe, really. Not the way he does, anyways. I'm fine with just hearing about it. Do you mind me watching this?"  
  
"No, this is all right," Kinga said, and she sat back to run her hands softly over Jonah's back, noticing the pattern of the pink lines she'd left all over his skin. "Jonah? How're you feeling about it?"  
  
"I've almost had enough," he said. "But actually, I have an itch right between my shoulder blades..." She scratched the area and he sighed in relief. "Yeah, right there. Thanks, kitten." She purred again and bumped his shoulder with her forehead, and then gave him one last good top-to-bottom scratch that left him gasping. "Okay, that's-- that's good. I'm done now." He flopped forward into the pillow pile, and Max leaned forward a little to inspect the marks Kinga had left on his boyfriend.  
  
"Good control," he said, and Kinga grinned, surprised by the compliment. "Are you up for cuddling tonight, or is that not on your agenda?"  
  
"I already cuddled with him," she said, "but I was... kind of looking forward to talking to you again?"  
  
"Sure thing," Max said. He caressed Jonah's back gently. "Jonah, honey, you okay?"  
  
"I'm marvelous," Jonah said, pushing himself back up into a sitting position. "Am I being evicted for pillow talk therapy?"  
  
"Sorry," Kinga said. "Go play with someone else for a little while, I'm afraid I need Max for a bit." Jonah leaned over to kiss Max first, then turned and smooched Kinga on her forehead before he got up.   
  
"Don't talk about me too much while I'm gone," he said, and made his exit. Max gave Kinga a level, expectant look, and she flushed slightly.  
  
"I'm gonna talk about him a little bit," she said, and he huffed a laugh.  
  
"You just asked my permission to fuck my boyfriend, I wasn't going to let you get away with not talking about him." She flushed darker, and he waved her over. "Come on, come over here. So you've joined the Jonah Admiration Society, huh? That shows good taste on your part." She prowled across the pillows to cuddle up to Max's side, the bell on her collar jingling, and he started petting her hair as soon as he got an arm around her.  
  
"You're not... mad or unhappy about it or anything?"  
  
"Should I be? I'm not jealous. Jonah's his own person, he can make his own decisions. I'm happy that he took my feelings into account before going ahead and hooking up with you. And I hope the two of you have a good time together."  
  
"He's fun," Kinga said. "And patient with me. Which most people aren't."  
  
"Yeah, that sounds like him."  
  
"And he's really cute."  
  
"He definitely is that."  
  
"I, um... I get very attached to people very quickly," she said softly, and Max's hand hesitated for a second and then settled on the back of her neck.  
  
"Do you want to talk about that?"  
  
"I usually attach to people who are bad for me. Or I'm bad for them. Or both, both happens a lot. But here, I--" She lifted her head to look Max in the eyes. "It'll happen with you too if I keep opening up to you," she said, and he smiled at her.  
  
"Is that a declaration of intent, or a warning?"  
  
"A warning. As much for myself as for you."  
  
"Is it something you don't want to happen?"  
  
"I don't want to be bad for you. Or for Jonah. You're both so nice, and I'm not nice."  
  
"We can take care of ourselves," Max said gently. "Or, more to the point, we can take care of each other, if you turn out to hurt one of us. But I don't want you to get hurt either."  
  
"Oh, I get hurt in every relationship I'm in. I think everyone hates me and talks about me behind my back even when it doesn't make any sense for them to do that. I know you and Jonah are going to talk about me when I'm not around." She dropped her head against his shoulder again and sighed. "It's pathological. Like, I legitimately have a diagnosis."  
  
"I wasn't going to ask, but since you brought it up, I'd rather have you tell me than guess incorrectly."  
  
"I'm borderline as fuck. You probably wouldn't have been wrong."  
  
"No, but it's nice to hear it from you still. You know that being borderline doesn't mean you'll never have a good relationship in your life, right? It's going to take more work than an average person would have to put in, but plenty of borderline folks find love." She snorted in disbelief and shook her head, and Max tipped his head against hers. "I can give you the name of someone who specializes in dialectical behavior therapy, if you like. I'm not super great at it, but Mary's wonderful and I know she'll take you if I recommend you."  
  
"That-- uh... maybe. Maybe later. Remind me tonight? After the cuddle puddle?"  
  
"Oh, will you be coming back for that?"  
  
"Well, yeah. It was kind of awesome last time."  
  
"Sure. I'll remind you later." She sighed and settled against him a little more closely, one arm tight around his waist, and he hummed and squeezed her gently. "So... kitten play, huh? It's cute on you. I wish I had a feather to tease you with."   
  
"Oh  _really_ ," Kinga said. "That has potential, depending on where the feather goes."  
  
"Do you turn everything dirty?"  
  
"I mean... we're at a kink event? But yes anyways, I do all the time."  
  
"I don't even know if you're at all serious or entirely joking."  
  
"About half serious and half joking..."  
  
"Really? Huh. I thought you said you're not polyamorous."  
  
"I said I'm not looking to  _date_  either of you. I don't need to be dating you for you to tease me with feathers. Or anything that might happen after that."  
  
"You're a very provocative person, Kinga." She couldn't tell from his tone of voice whether it was meant as a compliment, and she didn't lift her head from his shoulder until someone knocked on the door to the cuddle lair and poked their head in. It was Tom.  
  
"Oh! Sorry, Max. Synthia said she saw you come in and then Jonah leave, I thought you were alone in here. Hi, Kinga."  
  
"Hi Tom." With a sigh, Kinga sat up and stretched her arms over her head before leaning over to kiss Max's cheek. "I'll see you later, I guess."  
  
"Have fun tonight," Max said.  
  
"Nice tail," Tom said as Kinga passed him. She swayed her hips to make the tail flick before she closed the door behind her. 


	3. fun with violet wands!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jonah likes to play with other people... and Max really likes to watch him play with other people. Joel shows up with his violet wands for the first time since the cuddle king found himself a boyfriend, and fun ensues.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another Smoochtober challenge chapter.

Max was usually content to listen to what people had to say on nearly any topic. Realizing that he wanted to talk came as a surprise. Realizing that he wanted to talk about his adorable, wonderful boyfriend who was currently off doing some kinky thing or another with a person who wasn't him startled him so much that he lost track of what the person currently talking to him was saying.

"...Max?" Synthia lifted her head from Max's shoulder and gave him a puzzled look. "Are you okay tonight? You're barely responding. Am I boring you?"

"No! Of course not, I'm so sorry. My mind's been wandering lately, I promise you're not boring me, this is a me problem."

"Oh yeah? Well, hang on a second, I think I know what to do here..." Synthia flopped back into the pillow pile and tugged on Max's arm until he was the one cuddled up to her chest for a change. "What's on your mind, my friend?"

"Oh, no, I can't--" He didn't really want to turn her offer down, but his therapist instincts were screaming that this wasn't the role he got to play in conversations like these. 

"Come on, you keep enough of my secrets, I can keep one for you." 

"I'm just... thinking about Jonah." 

"Oh-ho, no wonder you're off in outer space." Synthia ran her fingers through Max's hair and he almost swore. His frequent cuddle buddies had picked up all his tricks, and they were just as effective turned on him. "So is this daydream type thinking or worry type thinking?"

"Both? Both. Daydreams that are also worries."

"Do you know where he is now?"

"No. He wasn't sure who was here when he left this room at the start of the night."

"Well, I can make an educated guess or two given who I've seen here already. I know Gypsum wanted his help at the suspension station, and Joel brought his violet wands tonight."

"I didn't know Joel made it tonight. I should go say hi."

"By say hi you totally mean watch him play with your boyfriend, right?"

"Uh... yes."

"No judgment from me. God knows I like watching Terry play with other people."

"I just didn't want to leave if there were people waiting for me."

"Max, honey, you know you're allowed to do things for your own benefit and not just for the benefit of other people while you're here, right?" Max sighed and thunked his head into Synthia's shoulder, and she laughed. "Seriously. You forget the purpose of these events. You're so focused on meeting other people's needs that you ignore your own."

"You can stop calling me out now, I get the point."

"Do you? Then get your butt up out of these pillows and go perv on your partner while he's playing," Synthia said, giving him a nudge until he sat up. "Also? I'm glad you found someone who makes you happy. You've been smiling a lot more since the two of you got together. It's nice to see."

"He does make me happy," Max said, fumbling through his bag for his glasses and pushing them up his nose when he put them on. "Ridiculously happy. Like, 'dear diary, I think he's the one' kind of happy."

"Good! You deserve that. He's a return on your good karma."

"Oh, I don't know about that."

"Trust me. You do more good than you even know about." She climbed out of the pillow pile after him, stood up, and cracked her back with three loud pops. "Mm. All right, tiger, go get him."

Max didn't tend to spend much time wandering around during Impression. He'd been doing more of it in the months since he and Jonah had taken their relationship from cuddle buddies to significant others, almost always with the intention of finding Jonah in the middle of a scene with someone else, and what he'd learned was that Jonah was sensation-seeking, always looking for something to feel that rode the line between interesting and painful. He didn't like pain for its own sake and stayed away from the harder kinks, but Max had caught him in two temperature play scenes, a textures scene, a kitten play scene where Jonah was playing the part of scratching post, and now here he was with Joel, animatedly discussing the technical specifications of Joel's electric play toys until he caught sight of Max and lit up like a Christmas tree.

"I didn't know you were leaving the cuddle lair," Jonah said, and Max smiled.

"Neither did I."

"Hey, I don't know what you did to this poor kid, but he's smitten with you," Joel said, the hint of a laugh in his voice. 

"What I did to this poor kid? You should be wondering what this poor kid did to me," Max said, and Joel arched a brow.

"He got you out of the pillow pile. Must be serious, whatever it was."

"I'd say it's serious," Jonah said, and he took off his glasses and handed them to Max. "Watch these for me?"

"I can do that." Jonah leaned down to steal a kiss, then turned back to Joel with a smile.

"Are we ready?"

"You never said whether you wanted the blindfold or not." Max inhaled sharply, and Jonah's smile widened.

"Let's go with it this time." 

"Sure thing." Jonah sat on the edge of the padded bench and Joel tied a strip of soft, dark fabric over his eyes before he laid back. Then Joel reached for a glass-tipped wand and flipped the switch, sending shivers of violet light through the device that reached through the glass to dance over Jonah's skin when he brought it close. At first he skimmed it up the back of Jonah's arm and left the hair standing up in its wake as Jonah's fingers twitched. "How's that? Too high?"

"You could turn it up a notch," Jonah said. "It's just a tickle now."

"Yeah, I couldn't remember your tolerance level. You're tougher than you look."

"Are you saying that I don't look tough?" 

"Not with that adorable pout on your face, you don't," Joel pointed out, and Jonah pouted a little harder. "Aw, c'mon, you're totally tough. Here, how's this?" He turned the wand up and ran it over the same path. This time Jonah's hand curled into a fist and he made a soft involuntary sound. "There we go, that's more like it. Good?"

"This is good, yeah." 

"Let me know if you want me to do anything differently," Joel said, and guided the wand over Jonah's upper arm, sending electricity across his penguin tattoo, and along his collarbone. Jonah shivered and bit his lip, and Joel shot an amused look at Max when he heard Max squeak. "So uh, how long have the two of you been a thing? I didn't think I was gone for that long."

"Well, I haven't seen you in four months," Jonah said, "and we were being discreet about it before that."

"I guess Max would know from discreet," Joel said, and circled the wand over Jonah's nipple just to watch him jump as it peaked in the current of light running through his skin. "You know, good for both of you. I wouldn't have called it, but you make a cute couple." He traced the wand down Jonah's ribs on one side and up them on the other side and Jonah flinched and giggled. 

"We get that a lot," Max said dryly, reaching out for Jonah before he caught himself and lowered his hand. It wasn't nice to interrupt a scene, regardless of how goddamn adorable his boyfriend was in the middle of it. Joel noted the abortive action with a smirk and drew a spiral over Jonah's abs in flickering violet light that made his whole lanky body twitch. 

"It's, uh... it's definitely not what I expected when I started coming to Impression, but it's way better than anything I did expect," Jonah said, wrapping his hands around the edges of the bench he was lying on when Joel guided the wand over the side of his hip. "Oh, could you maybe do that again?"

"What, this?"  Joel focused the wand on the crest of Jonah's hip and wiggled it back and forth a little,  and Jonah whimpered and tossed his head.

"Yeah, that," he agreed breathlessly. Max had pressed a hand to his own mouth, gone wide-eyed over it, and Joel smirked a little more and motioned him over. Wordlessly, Joel offered the wand to Max, who very hesitantly closed his hand around it. Joel patted him on the back and leaned in to murmur into his ear.

"Just don't keep it on one place too long," Joel advised, "or you might burn him. Go on, you look like a kid in a candy store." Max gave him an uncertain look, and Joel smiled. "Don't worry, I'm right here keeping an eye on things." 

"Did you get bored with me?" Jonah asked after a moment of not feeling anything. "Where'd you go?"

"Be patient, honey," Joel said, trying not to laugh. "Kids these days, ten second attention span." He pointed at Jonah's other hip and made a  _get on with it_  motion,  and Max flushed pink and guided the violet wand over Jonah's hip slowly, fascinated by the crackle of purple light playing over pale skin and yellow fabric when he crossed the line of Jonah's shorts.

"Mmm..." Jonah's pleased sigh and the way he canted his hip into the electric touch made Max's gaze sharpen, and he fought the urge to touch Jonah with his free hand. He could use his voice, though, and he did as he played the wand over the inside of one of Jonah's thighs.

"You're so into this..." Jonah turned his head to the sound of Max's voice, smiling slightly even while his leg twitched.

"Yeah, I'm-- I was the kind of kid who licked batteries," he admitted, and Joel let out a snort of laughter. 

"Figures. You have no idea how many people who play with me on nights I bring these say that." 

"Hey, who knows where people develop their kinks," Max said. "Sexuality is complex."

"I'm just a tech junkie," Jonah said, and his toes curled when Max played the wand all the way down one leg. "Ah! Not the feet, please."

"Sorry," Joel said, and rolled his eyes at Max with a clear undertone of  _novice_ in his eyes. Max bit his lip and moved the wand to Jonah's other leg, drawing a wobbly pattern from his ankle up to his hip and pulling an equally wobbly moan from Jonah's throat. Curiously, he guided it over the significant bulge in those yellow shorts, and Jonah yelped and half sat up.

"Uh? You don't usually--"

"Sorry, that was me," Max said. "Was that bad?"

"N-no, that wasn't bad at all, it's just not what I was expecting," Jonah breathed, but he relaxed as soon as he heard Max's voice. "If I knew  _you_  wanted to play with me..."

"Oh, Jonah, sweetheart, I always want to play with you."

"Then why don't you do it more often?" Max paused, and Joel snorted silently and shook his head. "I thought you were just a voyeur, not that you actually wanted to step in when you watch me during scenes."

"I  _am_  a voyeur, but watching you on these nights always leaves me wishing I'd taken a more participatory role," Max admitted, leaning down to brush his lips over Jonah's. He didn't expect Jonah to dig his fingers through silvered curls to hold him in place, kissing him back much more thoroughly before stroking his hand down the back of Max's neck.

"Well, you've got twenty-nine other nights in any given month to put that to use," Jonah said, reaching up to pull his blindfold off and blink nearsightedly and adoringly up at Max. "Not with  _this_ , given..."

"I mean, if you want to borrow it, you could ask me," Joel said easily. "Since I'm not using it most of the month either."

"Oh,  _could_ we?" Jonah tipped his head back to look at Joel, looking far too excited by the prospect. "I promise we'll be careful with it. Max is very responsible."

"And you're not?" Joel asked with amusement.

"Jonah's very responsible too," Max said loyally, handing Jonah his glasses and watching him push them on, "but given that he wouldn't be the one handling the equipment, that's slightly less relevant information."

"Oh, who says I wouldn't? Unless you're super not into it," Jonah said. 

"Excuse me," someone interrupted them, and all three of them looked over to find Gypsum standing there with her arms crossed over a new and interesting rope harness pattern. "If you're all going to stand around chit-chatting and not using the gear, think you could let the next person in line in? That being me?"

"Sorry, G," Jonah said, sitting up all the way and putting his feet on the floor. "Let me get out of your way." Joel reclaimed the wand from Max's hands and waved him out of the scene space.

"Go on, you crazy kids. Come back at the end of the night if you actually want to take it home with you, okay?"

"What, you're not coming to the cuddle puddle?" Max sounded disappointed. "After being gone for four months?"

"Sorry, I have other plans tonight," Joel said. "Since I've been gone for four months, and all."

"Next month?"

"Next month. Promise."

"What about you, Gyps?" Jonah asked, and she flashed him a thumbs up.

"Wouldn't miss it for the world. Midnight, right?"

"You got it," Max said, and he laced his fingers through Jonah's and gave him a tug. "Have fun!"

"Are you co-opting me until the cuddle puddle?" Jonah asked as Max pulled him along to the pillow nest room, and Max glanced up at him.

"If by co-opting you you mean taking loving advantage of you, then yes. Unless you object to me getting you off."

"Uh, no, object is the opposite of what I do to you getting me off."

"Good. Cause we've got about thirty minutes until the cuddle puddle and I'd like to spend most of that time with my mouth around your cock."

"You better set an alarm or someone's going to walk in on us," Jonah said a little weakly, and Max smirked.

"Fun fact... this door actually locks."

"No kidding?"

"Would I lie to you?"

"You haven't yet."

"And I don't plan on doing it at any point," Max said, and locked the door behind them. "Now, get comfortable..." He took off his glasses, folded them, and put them back in his bag, then turned back to Jonah, grinning when he found his extra-tall boyfriend already sprawled out over the pillows. "God, you're cute."

"If I'm cute, then what are you?"

"Madly in love with you," Max said, "and very eager to prove it." Jonah giggled when Max kissed his thigh just below where his shorts ended and spread his legs a little wider, shivering when Max palmed him gently before starting to pull those shorts out of his way.

"I love you too," Jonah breathed, and didn't have anything coherent left to say after that until Max was done having his not-very-wicked way with him.


	4. bondage, fingering, voyeurism, and then some

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kinga's latest bright idea is to get tied up and blindfolded and let anyone who wants to play with her have a turn. She asks Jonah to keep an eye on her while it's going on. He's willing to take on the responsibility, but he wishes she'd be willing to amend their relationship from "fuckbuddies" to something a little more meaningful if she's going to put this much trust in him. Luckily, her being all tied up means she can't run away when he wants to talk about it, even if she is going to require a little nudge to realize that she's worth the effort that he and Max want to put into her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a Kink Bingo fill for me! The line it crosses is orgies/decadence | bodily fluids | pain | whipping/flogging | negotiation 
> 
> I swear to god when I started writing this fic, I thought it was just going to be a cute little cuddle one shot. Then my brain dumped sexy plot bunnies in my lap. Damn you, brain. Damn you and your need to turn everything OT3.

"How do I keep getting roped into your scenes?" Jonah asked.

Kinga arched a brow at him as she shimmied out of her jeans. "Is that a rhetorical question? I ask you and you say yes. Pretty straightforward."

"Yeah, but why do you keep asking me?" 

She stepped delicately out of her pants and into his personal space, looking straight up at him.

"Because I trust you... obviously." Putting her hands lightly against his chest, she added, "I told you that you didn't have to agree just because I asked."

"Well, I wasn't going to make you do it without someone to make sure you're okay."

"I could have asked Max. He would have left the cuddle nest for me."

"So why didn't you? You know he's into watching."

"Because while I am super fucking selfish, I'm not selfish enough to take him away from all the rest of the cuddle buddies who need him." Kinga shrugged one shoulder. "I told him what my plan was. He'll probably stop by at some point. He got quite the look in his eyes when I told him."

"Yeah, I bet he did," Jonah laughed. "I'm not complaining, for the record. I just wanted to know."

"Who else would I have asked besides you or Max? You're the only two I trust this much."

"Thank you for putting so much faith in me," Jonah said, bending to kiss her. "I'm honored."

"Don't get all sappy on me," Kinga said, rolling her eyes but curling a hand at the back of his neck to keep him in place for a kiss back. "This isn't exactly high romance here."

"Really? And here I was thinking that watching my not-exactly-girlfriend get fingered by a bunch of our friends was the stuff of poetry," he snarked, and she smirked at him.

"I told you, I don't want to date you."

"I'd believe that more if we hadn't gone on a literal date together this week."

"Getting dinner is not inherently a date."

"Oh, right, my bad. I forgot all of those friendly platonic dinners I've gotten with the rest of my friends that ended in us feeding each other dessert. You know, if you're aromantic, you can just say that, it’s fine, that’s valid. If you just want a fuckbuddy, tell me that up front."

"I did," Kinga said. "I literally told you I just wanted to fuck around with you and not date you at the beginning of this. Why do you keep forgetting that?"

"Wishful thinking, I guess."

"Oh, yeah, because you definitely need a mentally ill girlfriend to complete your charmed life."

"Considering that you and Max are the only things in my life that don't make me miserable these days? Yeah, I wouldn't mind it if you'd let me put a name more meaningful than 'fuckbuddy' on our relationship. Sorry if the fact that I care about you makes things awkward for you."

"You are something else." Jonah pouted, and Kinga shook her head and reached up to pat his cheek. "You're a sweet guy, Jonah. Trust me. I'm only going to end up hurting you if you try to make something serious out of this."

"Is that a warning or a promise? Cause you seem to enjoy hurting me a moderate amount already."

"Yeah, physically. I'd rather not do it emotionally." Jonah sighed and wrapped his arms around her, and Kinga dropped her head against his chest with a sigh back. "Goddammit, why do you have to have such a big heart?"

"Because the rest of me is big to match?"

"Yeah you are," she said with a gratuitous grope of a particular big part of his anatomy that made him suck in a sharp breath. "I hope you're not just going to observe tonight. I want you to touch me, too."

"Yeah, that's a given," Jonah said. "Keeping my hands off you will be the most difficult part of this. Because I could easily spend the whole night toying with you tied up like that. But you want to play with other people than just me." 

She smirked and wriggled her way out of his embrace to finish undressing, making a show of it just to see the way he watched her so intently. No one she'd ever dated for real had looked at her with that much heat in his gaze, and no one she'd dated for real had touched her with as much affection as he did in even the smallest gesture. 

"You ready?" Jonah asked.

Kinga smirked. "Fuck yeah I am. Let's get this show on the road." 

The spreader bar had been borrowed from Synthia's collection, while the soft hemp rope had been loaned by Gypsum. Jonah carefully wrapped the rope to bind her hand to her ankle and her ankle to the spreader bar, then repeated the process on the other side until she was restrained completely on the table, face down and ass up, a lewd splayed-out display that made Jonah want to lock the door and bury his face in her until she promised to be his for more than just fucking around together. He tamped down that urge but gave into the impulse to touch her, the lightest brush of his fingertips over her smooth pink pussy that made her hips twitch. "Are you getting me started off?" she asked breathlessly. "I want the blindfold first."

"Even though you'll still know it's me?" The blindfold he'd brought himself, at her request, the same strip of black velvet that he'd tied over her eyes the first time she’d come home with him. He rubbed the soft nap of it up her bare back and looped it around her throat just to tease her with the gentle threat of it before he put it where it would remain for the next couple of hours or until she tapped out.

"I bet I can tell when it's you later. You touch me like you give a damn about me," she said softly, and he snorted.

"Funny how that happens when you, I don't know, give a damn about a person." His hands skimmed down her wide-spread legs and back up to squeeze her ass. "You look fucking delicious like this, I don't even want to let anyone else have a turn with you."

"Don't spoil my fun, Jonah." He slapped her ass hard, just once, and she yowled. "Mm, you bastard. Handle me like that and you _can_ keep me to yourself."

"No," he said, bending down to kiss the handprint he'd left marked into her skin. "I'll wait until you've had your fun with everyone else, and when you've had too much and you're ready to be set free, I'm going to wring one last orgasm out of you and make you scream loud enough to make people wonder what the fuck's going on in here."

"You'd better," she purred. "I'm going to hold you to that promise."

"So you don't want me to tell you who comes in, right? You just want to know after it's over?" He set out the other things she'd brought on the table next to her: a box of disposable gloves, a bottle of lube, a leather flogger, and a feather toy that Max had given her on the last night she'd done a kitten play scene. Event standards required him to put a puppy pad on the table underneath her hips. Then he couldn't help touching her again.

"I'll be able to tell if people talk to me. I have a good memory for voices. But yeah, don't tell me if they don't say anything. I want to guess."

"Want me to open the door now?" She took a couple of deep, measured breaths, then nodded. Jonah propped the door open and arched his brows to find Gypsum waiting on the other side of it, not in her usual rope harness but a sports bra and boyshorts tonight. "You're not wasting any time."

"Had to check your work," she said, brushing past him to approach Kinga. Her eyes widened as she came closer. "Oh, girl, you look good like this."

"Thank you," Kinga said, her fingers curling as Gypsum checked the ropes binding her to the spreader bar and nodded in approval. "Maybe I'll come do suspension with you next month."

"Don't tease me," Gypsum said, picking up the feather toy to tease Kinga instead, flirting the soft plume over the backs of her knees and making her twitch. "You said that last month too."

"Last month is when she got the idea for this," Jonah said, crossing the room and leaning against the wall to observe the proceedings. "Or at least, that's when she started talking about it in very purple prose."

"Don't kinkshame my fantasies," Kinga said.

Jonah snorted. "I think facilitating your fantasies is the opposite of kinkshaming them." 

Gypsum tickled Kinga's foot with the feather, and Kinga jolted, trying to kick and getting nowhere with it.

"I didn't get tied up to get _tickled_ ," she whined.

"Then you shouldn't have put out a feather," Gypsum said, trailing the feather all the way up Kinga's leg and dancing it over her cunt to get a much more appreciative sound out of her. "That's the thing about leaving yourself all tied up to be played with. Other people have different ideas than you do."

"That's half the reason I'm here," Jonah said, and Gypsum arched a brow at him as she put down the feather and picked up the flogger.

"What's the other half?"

"R&D... seeing what gets a reaction out of her that I can use later."

"You're a good boyfriend."

"He's not my boyfriend," Kinga said immediately, and then yelped when Gypsum brought the flogger down on her ass.

"Oh, my bad. You're a good play partner, then. But I knew that about you already." She dragged the leather tails of the flogger over Kinga's back before swatting her with it again, this time across one thigh. "You've got really nice legs, Kinga. Very toned." Then she hit the other thigh. Kinga whimpered and pulled against the rope binding her, but didn't go anywhere. "All right, I've got places to be and people I promised to play with. I just wanted to make sure that the ropes were done right, and you did a good job, Jonah." Gypsum put down the flogger, gave Kinga a friendly pat on the ass, waved at Jonah, and walked out. 

A moment later Crow poked his head through the door.

"What's going on in— oh, _hey_." He walked in and took a couple of slow steps toward the table Kinga was displayed on, a smirk growing on his lips. "Hello, what did I do to deserve revenge served so neatly tied up?"

"Oh, not you," Kinga sighed, and Crow huffed.

"Rude! You are so rude. Does that mean I have to leave?" He shot a plaintive look at Jonah, who shrugged. Just because the two of them had more or less worked through the fallout from Kinga blowing up Crow's crush on Jonah didn't mean that Crow and Kinga were on good terms now.

"I'll make him go if you don't want him to play with you," Jonah offered when Kinga didn't immediately respond. He could see her chewing on her lower lip thoughtfully.

"No," she said after a long moment's consideration. "He can stay for now. But if I say corvid, make him leave." 

Crow rolled his eyes but came closer anyways, studying the position she was in with a calculating gaze. "Are you here for sensation or for pain?" he asked, one hand hovering over the items that had been left on the table. "Because I don't really need props for either of those."

"Both," Kinga said, and gasped when Crow pinched the back of her thigh between his spindly fingers.

"Warn me before you cut me off," he said. "I'd rather not get kicked out." He pinched her other thigh in the same place, leaving pink marks in his wake in both spots, and started working his way higher, fine-tuning the pressure of his pinches based on the pitch of her cries. "I don't hate you, you know," he said conversationally. "I did for a couple months. And I don't like you now. But for some reason, all the people I like seem to like you."

"I'm just— just charming like that," Kinga panted as he pinched right where her leg became her ass. "Don't ask me how."

"I don't care how," Crow said. "All I care about is that I have to learn to coexist with you if you're going to be sticking around the scene, which it seems like you will." He dug his fingertips into the softest part of her ass and dragged his thumbs between her legs, tracing the shape of her cunt without touching it directly. "But, you know, you're pretty enough for me to forget how I feel about your horrible mouth with the rest of you on display like this. I don't know if I've ever seen such a picture-perfect pussy at Impression before."

"No pictures," Kinga said, squirming as much as she could, which admittedly wasn't much.

"No one's allowed to carry their phones around at Impression, you know that," Jonah said. "I wouldn't let anyone even if they flaunted the rule." Crow snorted a laugh and reached for the box of gloves, pulling them on with an ostentatious snap.

"I'm definitely not getting kicked out of my favorite scene because I got the split second urge to make your irresistibly cute twat my lock screen." Very gently, he ran one fingertip through her folds and checked it to find the latex glistening with her wetness. "Mm, someone's into this."

"That's the whole fucking point of this," Kinga said, and even with her eyes covered the tone of her voice said she was rolling them. "Yeah, I'm into it. I'm not into how much you're talking at me though."

"Sucks for you, I'm a highly verbal person," Crow said, leaning down to blow teasingly over her cunt as he splayed her open with his thumbs.

"Fuck!" she gasped, shivering. "Don't put your mouth on me."

"I wasn't planning on it. My hands, on the other hand..." He put a fingertip on her clit and tapped it gently, making her shiver more. "So anyways... conflict resolution via sex games."

"What?" She couldn't follow the apparent non sequitur with him pressing her button like that.

"That's how bonobos do it," Crow said. "Instead of fighting each other. They fuck it out. I've always found that inspirational."

"That's because you have a glass jaw and a loud mouth," Jonah said, moving closer to get a better vantage point on the action. "And if you got your ass licked instead of kicked, you'd have broken a lot fewer bones in your life."

"I don't remember asking your opinion," Crow said, scowling at Jonah. "Don't interrupt me. I'm going somewhere with this. Where was I going with this?"

"Monkey orgies," Kinga said questioningly, and Crow patted her ass with his free hand.

"Yeah. As I was saying... I don't have any lingering resentments toward anyone I've had conflict with at Impression, because I'm a big believer in working those frustrations out in scenes. I was waiting for the right moment to deal with my issues with you, and then here you are, looking absolutely mouth-wateringly helpless."

"So this is payback for cutting you in line for Jonah's attention?" Kinga asked, oblivious to the way Crow stared at Jonah after she said it. Jonah blinked, and Crow rolled his eyes.

"This is payback for spilling my secrets that you should have had no way of knowing," he corrected her, and delivered one sharp spank directly on her pussy that made her wail and yank against her restraints reflexively.

"You're an asshole," Kinga gasped, and Crow covered her with one hand and rubbed her gently, the closest to an apology that she was bound to receive from him.

"You say that..."

"Everyone says that," Jonah interjected. He looked a bit stunned; he'd been looking at Kinga's face when Crow had slapped her and she'd been more pleased than shocked by it. Crow just smirked at him.

"...but I do know what I'm doing," Crow finished his sentence, "and I'm not actually being vindictive by doing it... you pain slut. You're not the only one who can tell things about a person just by looking at them, you know. You might as well have 'masochist' tattooed right over your cute little butt." He wrote it out with a fingertip over her lower back, then trailed that finger down the crack of her ass and over her cunt again. "Go ahead, tell me I'm wrong."

"You're obviously not," she hissed.

"Wow, I fully expected you to lie to me out of spite. Looks like you can be a good girl with the right incentive." Kneading her ass with one hand, Crow teased at her slit with two fingertips on the other. "So. You're getting my fingers one way or another, you want them with or without the spanking?"

"With," Kinga said immediately, "definitely with."

"I was hoping you'd say that. And you don't even need the lube, you're dripping wet already," he said as he pushed one finger into her easily. She whined at the back of her throat and arched into his touch. When he slapped her ass, she tensed up and then went limp, and he cackled. "Man, I love how that feels from the inside. Was that good or do you want it harder or not as hard?"

"Turn it up to eleven."

"No wonder all my friends like you, you _are_ fun to play with." Crow looked up at Jonah with that familiar manic glint in his eyes. "You don't have to babysit. We're playing nice."

"I'm not babysitting," Jonah said, "but I'm not leaving, either. She wants me here, so I'm staying."

"You're watching like a hawk."

"Uh, yeah? She's clearly enjoying what you're doing to her, I'm taking notes."

"If you can't focus on me, you can leave," Kinga said a little too breathlessly for it to be a convincing threat. "This is between the two of us, Crow. Quit the chitchat."

"Whatever you say," Crow chirped as he pulled the single finger out and slid two back in. "If you want me to ignore the object of my lust avidly staring at me while I work his girl toy over, sure, no problem. I'll just tune that right out." This slap to her ass came with a crack like thunder, and Kinga thumped her head against the table with her reflexive jerk. "So unreasonable."

"Jonah, take the blindfold off me and tie it around his mouth," Kinga said, and Crow laughed and curled his fingers inside her until she whimpered.

"I don't consent to that."

"Then for the love of all that's good in the world, _shut the fuck up_." Crow just laughed harder, but he didn't say another word, focusing on the goal of getting her off instead of his next bit of witty repartee. His thumb sought out her clit and rubbed it firmly as he spanked her again, and she made a sound that was eighty percent purr. " _Yes_ , like that."

Crow didn't say anything else to her, but he aimed a challenging stare at Jonah when Kinga came around his fingers with a squeal a couple of spanks later. He pulled them out of her slowly and held them up in front of his eyes for a moment, observing how coated in her juices they were, before he smirked and turned to Jonah, lifting his fingers to hover in front of Jonah's mouth. Jonah licked his lips nervously and leaned forward to take Crow's fingers between his lips and run his tongue between them. 

"Fuck," Crow said, quietly and fervently. "I want so much more than that from you, but I'll take what I can get."

"Don't push it," Jonah said, and Crow just shook his head and peeled the gloves off.

"Thanks for the fun, Red. Catch you around." He left immediately, leaving Kinga panting to catch her breath and Jonah nearly as breathless.

"What did he mean by that?" Kinga asked after a long moment of nothing happening, and Jonah sighed.

"He meant he's going to make my life difficult," Jonah said, and he ran a gentle hand down her back and over her bright pink bottom. "You okay?"

"I'm fantastic. But I have an itch right under my left shoulder, could you—" She didn't even finish the question before he scratched the indicated spot and she sighed deeply. "I wasn't expecting that."

"You and me both." Jonah leaned on the table next to her, still petting her back softly. "You really enjoyed that, huh?"

"I've told you this whole time that I like being hit. You choose to touch me softly anyways."

"I don't want to hurt you."

"And that's why I can't date you."

"Because I don't want to hurt you?"

"Because you won't give me everything I need to be happy."

"So? No one can give anyone everything they need to be happy. Doesn't mean you shouldn't even try." Jonah looked up sharply when someone tapped at the doorsill, then relaxed when he saw that it was Synthia.

"Am I interrupting something?"

"No, come in," Jonah said, and pushed off the table to wave Synthia over. "Are you checking on my handiwork too?"

"Pshh, no, I just like seeing my equipment in use." She came over and brushed a hand over Kinga's hand where it rested against the spreader bar. "How's it going, lady? Everything you dreamed?"

“Pretty close to it,” Kinga said, curling her fingers around Synthia’s. “Are you here to play, or…?”

“Oh, I barely know what to do with a pretty girl like you. I’m more of an aesthetic appreciator of the female form. But you are _very_ aesthetically pleasing all tied up like this.” 

“Gosh, I should get tied up naked more often. People are so complimentary of me right now.” 

“Hey, you want to borrow my gear, you just have to say the word,” Synthia said. “I’m always happy to share my toys with my friends.” She glanced up at Jonah and smirked. “And my friends seem happy to share my toys with my other friends.”

“Speaking of your other friends, have you been to the cuddle nest yet?” Jonah asked, and Synthia smirked harder. 

“Max had one person waiting when I left. He should be around pretty shortly. I’m amazed he didn’t just hang up an “out for lunch, back in 30” sign on the door, he was positively antsy when I was in with him.” She patted Kinga’s wrist. “But if there’s anyone else you’d like directed in here, I can be on the lookout.”

“Is Joel here tonight?” Jonah asked. “He mentioned wanting to meet Kinga.”

“I don’t want to meet him like this,” Kinga said hastily. “I want to meet him, you know, standing on my feet and looking him in the face, not tied up ass-first and blindfolded.”

“He’s got a full dance card tonight anyways,” Synthia said. “Which I’m appearing on in a little bit, so I’m gonna go. You crazy kids have fun.” She saluted Jonah and left.

“I didn’t know she was straight,” Kinga said, and Jonah snorted as he resumed his place leaning on the table.

“Did you not know that she and Terry are married, too?”

“Really?”

“Yeah. They only do nonsexual scenes with other people.”

“I thought Synthia was the bondage queen of this scene.”

“Yeah, she is. But more than half the time she’s tying someone up, it’s so they can play with a different person.”

“Huh. The more I know.” 

“Are you still okay? You’re not getting achy or thirsty or anything?”

“God, you’re attentive. Yeah, I could use some water.” Jonah pulled his water bottle out of his backpack and held the straw to her lips, and she blew him a kiss when she’d had enough. “I don’t even know what to do about you. You care so much about my wellbeing.”

“Well, yeah… that’s the way a good boyfriend should be.”

“You’re not my boyfriend.”

“You don’t have to keep rubbing it in. You could let me get away with saying it once or twice.”

“No, I can’t. Because if I let you get away with it, you’ll keep doing it, and then you’ll actually start thinking you _are_ my boyfriend, and—”

“Would that really be so terrible?” Jonah cut her off, not wanting to see how she’d end that sentence. “Can’t you just… let me care about you? Why is it so easy for you to let me make you come and so hard for you to let me treat you like you matter?”

“Because no one ever treats me like I matter past the point where they get whatever they want out of me,” Kinga snapped, “and I— I don’t want you to get whatever you want out of me and throw me away like everyone else has done. I can’t take that. It would kill me if you ditched me.”

“I’m not going to _ditch_ you,” Jonah said in a voice of pure horror. “Kinga, no, that’s not— that’s _not_ the way I am, I would never just abandon you!” He untied her blindfold and knelt next to the table to get on her level, and for a long moment she kept her gaze downcast before she met his eyes. “God, this is a fucked up way to have this conversation, but it wouldn’t even be happening if you weren’t literally tied up so you can’t run away from it, would it?”

“Probably not,” she said. 

“What’s it going to take to get you to trust me enough? How do I prove I’m not like the jackasses you’ve dated before?”

“Nothing about you is anything like anything about them.” Jonah’s brow furrowed, and Kinga’s lips pressed together unhappily. “You’re— you’re a good person. And I don’t get involved with good people, because I’m not a good person. I get treated like garbage because I’m trash.”

“Kinga, _no_ …” He touched her cheek gently, and she winced. “You’re not trash, and anyone who treated you like that is pond scum. You are— you’re difficult, and infuriating, and amazing, and absolutely priceless. And I wish I could punch every jerk who made you feel this way about yourself. You deserve to be cherished, not abandoned.” Her lips trembled and she screwed her eyes shut so he couldn’t see them filling with tears, and he leaned forward to press his lips to her forehead. “I wish you’d let me be the one to cherish you.”

“You deserve better than me,” she whispered. “You deserve someone like Max, who can love you back. And you have him. So I don’t know why you keep trying with me.”

“Because I love you, obviously.” Her eyes shot open, wide and watery, and Jonah offered her a tremulous smile. “Sorry. I know that’s not what you want to hear. But it’s how I feel.”

“You’re an idiot,” she said, and the smile fell from his face. “You’re not stupid enough to love someone like me, are you? I thought you were smart.” 

“Excuse me,” a familiar voice said. Kinga closed her eyes again and pressed her cheek against the table like she could disappear into it if she tried hard enough. Jonah looked up to find Max standing inside the now-closed door, looking very apologetic. “Sorry, I’m— painfully nosy,” he admitted, “I should have made some noise when I came in but you seemed… very intent on each other. I’m sorry, I’ve been eavesdropping.”

“Kill me now,” Kinga said. “I’m ready for the sweet embrace of death.”

“Don’t be ridiculous.” Max came around to the side of the table she was facing and leaned down to look into her eyes. “You’re not trash. You’re fucked up, yeah, I’ll give you that. But that doesn’t make you irredeemable or mean you don’t deserve to be loved.”

“I thought you didn’t want me to steal your boyfriend.”

“As if he could be stolen,” Max said, shaking his head. “As if his huge heart doesn’t have enough love for two people? As if he’s the only one in this room who cares about you? Come on.”

“Why, though? Why do you care about me?”

“Really? You’re going to pour your heart out to me every time we cuddle and then have the audacity to ask me why I care about you? You outright told me you would get attached to me if you kept doing it… and then you kept doing it. Were you expecting me not to care?”

“No.” Kinga closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and said, “Untie me. Now. Please.” 

Jonah was quicker to undo the knots he’d tied himself, but a moment later Max got the knots on that side undone and she was totally freed. She curled her knees under her and stretched her arms over her head and held it for a moment, and then sat up on the edge of the table with her ankles crossed. 

“Come here,” she said, and Max came around in front of her. “Both of you.” She waited until Jonah was standing there too, then leaned back on her hands and looked from Max to Jonah and back again. “What do you want from me?”

“Excuse me?” Max gave her a quizzical look.

“What do you want from me? Everyone wants something. Tell me what it is so I know how quickly you’ll get tired of me.”

“I want… your happiness and wellbeing?” Jonah lifted his hands helplessly. “I want you in bed next to me when I wake up? I want to kiss you at least ten times a day and make up the kisses for the days we don’t see each other?”

“Gay,” Kinga said, flushing pink in a betrayal of her mockery. “Are you that sappy too?”

“Pretty much,” Max said. “I’m ninety percent sure he stole the phrase ‘your happiness and wellbeing’ directly from something I said to him. And I know from experience that the kiss thing is really nice.”

“Clinically gay.”

“So what do you want from us?” Jonah asked. “If you’re just going to bail after you get it, we should get a warning.”

“I want your attention,” Kinga said immediately. “As much of your attention as you’ll let me take. I want your affection. I want you to play with me outside of Impression, and I want it rough sometimes. I want to be told and shown how important I am to you without—” She paused, looking down, and went on a little softer, “—without feeling like my need to hear it is burdensome to you.” 

“I consent to these terms,” Max said. “Enthusiastically.”

“Yeah, I can do that,” Jonah agreed, putting one huge hand on her leg. “So can I be your boyfriend now?”

“Yes,” Kinga said, and she stuck one foot out to tap against his leg. “Since you’re so fixated on it, I guess that’s fine.” 

“You’re such a romantic,” Max said, settling a smaller, squarer hand on her other leg and tapping his fingertips against her skin. “I prefer the word partner, if that’s more acceptable to your sensibilities. But Jonah likes to be called a good boyfriend.”

“Jonah’s been a better boyfriend in the time I wouldn’t let him be my boyfriend than anyone I ever dated.” 

“That must have been a really low bar to clear,” Jonah said, and she looked up at him with her lips pulled to one side.

“I’d tell you, but it would really wreck the mood. Ask me some time when we’re clothed and I’ve been drinking. Or just take my word for it that you outright saying you want me to be happy is something I’ve never heard from anyone I’ve fucked before.”

“I don’t get how anyone could be with you and not be constantly trying to make you smile,” Jonah said, touching her cheek with one finger. She tilted her head into the touch and batted her lashes at him, the corners of her lips turning up. “Because your smile lights up the room.”

“So fucking sappy,” she said, but she beamed at him anyways. “It's been a long time since I was in a relationship. But I have a strong feeling this isn't even going to be comparable to that disaster.”

Max reached for the feather toy on the table and dusted it over the top of Kinga's thigh. “This is the opposite of a disaster. This is something that deserves celebration.” 

“I like the sound of that,” Kinga said. “You know, it's a shame neither of you got to play with me… I was really looking forward to seeing what you would do.”

“I could tie you back up,” Jonah offered. “I had plans for you that I'd be more than happy to show you, if you like.”

Kinga glanced at Max, who looked excited by the prospect. “Are you going to touch or just going to watch?” 

“Oh, I'm most definitely going to touch. I may have had a thought or three about the possibilities presented by that pose you were in….”

Jonah reached for the pile of rope he'd left on the floor after untying Kinga and started to coil it around his hand. “I think _I_ ' _d_ like to watch _you,_ in that case. I never get to watch you play.”

“Yes please,” Max said. “It’s only fair… and it’s exciting to be observed.”

Kinga hopped off the table and bent forward into downward dog with a sigh, stood up and twisted to the left until her back popped twice, twisted right and popped it once, and rolled her shoulders. “Okay, boys, I’m ready when you are.” 

Max touched her low on her back, and when she turned to him he smiled and then kissed her soft and sweet. “I’m glad we’re doing this,” he said. 

“This scene or this relationship?” 

“All of it. I’m glad the three of us are doing it together. I’m glad you’re putting your trust in us. I’m glad that I have a reason to take care of you directly now.” She looked at him, brows arched, when he took her hand. “This matters to me. A lot. You matter.”

“Thank you,” she said, flushing pink from being given so easily what she’d asked for. “You matter to me too. You’ve… you’ve made a difference. Helped me. So thank you.”

“It’s my genuine pleasure,” Max said, and Kinga smirked as she got back up on the table.

“So will this be.”

“For everyone involved,” Jonah added, skimming a hand down Kinga’s leg before beginning to wrap the rope around her ankle. “Want a little more wiggle room this time?”

“Why, are you planning on making me wiggle?”

“I think the word for what I intend is _writhe_ , not _wiggle_ ,” Max chimed in. Kinga hummed as she shifted into position to give Jonah her wrist too.

“Mm, in that case, give me a little more slack. I’m not trying to get out of it. I don’t want to go anywhere, I’m perfectly content to stay right here until we’ve all had our fun.”

Jonah moved to her other side to finish tying her up, dragging his fingertips across her palm when he finished. “All right, beautiful, you’re all set. You want the blindfold back?”

“No,” she said. “I want to watch you watching us.” 

That made Jonah smile, and he moved to a spot where he could see Max teasing her inner thighs with the feather toy and observe the pleasure on her face at the same time. Max shot him an amused look when Jonah bit his lip as Kinga cooed quietly.

“You look so good like this,” Max said, dropping the feather to use both hands on her instead, following the dips of her waist before cupping her ass and squeezing gently. “How does it make you feel?”

“Vulnerable… and powerful,” she said thoughtfully. “I know that I can end it with a word. But ending it’s the last thing I want to do right now. You’re going to be so good to me.”

“That is the plan.” Max leaned down to press his lips to the small of her back, kneading her bottom before sliding his hands around her hips instead. “Anything you don’t particularly want me to do?”

“Do whatever you want with me. All I want is to see what you have planned for me.”

“All right, then. Do you want me to tell you what I’m doing before I do it?”

“No. Just do it. I like the surprise.” 

“As you wish.” Jonah smirked a little at Max’s gratuitous movie quoting and nudged the box of gloves closer to him. Max nodded his thanks, picked up and looked at the box, then put it back down. “I’m sorry, these are latex gloves, I’ve got an allergy. I guess my plan has to be amended.”

“I’m okay with _you_ having bare hands… those were for people I didn’t trust. I trust you. Go ahead and touch me, I like how your skin feels on mine.”

“Are you sure?”

“Hey, if you’re for real going to be my partner, I prefer as few barriers between us as possible at any given time. I can go get tested again if you want, but Jonah’s the only person I’ve fucked since my last test. I’m safe to handle.”

“I believe you,” Max said, and looked up at Jonah. “You still have that hand sanitizer in your bag?”

“Don’t leave home without it,” Jonah said cheerfully, going to dig through the pocket of his backpack and tossing the small bottle to Max, who set it down on the table after he was done with it, picking up the lube instead and reading the label before he nodded and squeezed some out.

“Just tell me if you want me to stop anything I do,” Max said, and Kinga rolled her eyes.

“I want you to stop _stalling_ and _touch me_ ,” she said. Max huffed a laugh and put both hands on her, one cupping the heat of her cunt and the other teasing a fingertip over her asshole. She shivered all over and cooed, “That’s more like it.”

“Oh yeah?” 

“Yeah. Oh, please tell me you’ll fuck my ass, Jonah is so precious about it.”

“It’s just not my thing,” Jonah said defensively.

Max arched a brow at him. “Not from that side of the equation, anyways.” 

Jonah’s cheeks flooded with color.

Kinga snorted. “See? Precious. Don’t be so inhibited, Jonah.”

“My sexual preferences are not going to be altered by you taunting me about them,” Jonah said. “You don’t even need me to do it. Max is more than happy to. Aren’t you, Max?”

“Oh, very much so,” Max agreed. “Just say the word. It’s my pleasure to ensure yours.”

“You're so obliging,” Kinga said. “How about you give me those fingers already?” 

“Yes, dear.” There was a laugh in Max's voice as he pressed two fingers steadily into her, one in her dripping cunt and one in her eagerly yielding asshole. 

She yowled and arched her back, hands curling on nothing as his fingers bottomed out. “Oh, _yes_.”

“You were hoping someone would do this tonight,” Max said.

“No,” she said, “I was hoping _you_ would. And here you are.” 

“You were hoping I personally would do this specifically with you?” Slowly, he dragged his fingers nearly out of her and pushed them in again.

“I like it when you touch me,” she purred. “I like your hands. Yes, you doing this. Except with more fingers.” He laughed and took the hint, looking up at Jonah to find him still flushed and watching intently.

“Not into it yourself, but not averse to watching others do it,” Max said, half a question in his voice. 

Jonah shook himself and blinked. “Maybe I just like watching _you_ doing it to _her_ because it’s the two of you and I’d watch anything you did together.”

“And here I thought I was the voyeuristic one.” Max twisted his fingers and made Kinga whimper and toss her head helplessly. “Funny how I keep ending up in a more active role every time I get lured out of the nest.”

“Well, you… mmm. You keep insisting we aren’t allowed to fuck in the nest… we have to get you out of there if we want to play with you,” Kinga moaned.

“Not anymore,” Max said. “Because now I’m just going to start taking you home with me. Starting tonight, if you’re cool with it. This is not even close to all I’d like to do with you before the night’s over.” His free hand slid up her thigh and sought out her clit to toy with while he fingered her. Kinga started shivering, and he dropped a kiss on the small of her back.

“Am I included in that?” Jonah was trying his hardest not to interrupt their play, but he did reach out to tuck a loose strand of Kinga’s hair back behind her ear. She lifted her head into his touch and gave him a smile, pink-cheeked and gasping as Max moved his hands.

“That was the collective you, not the singular you,” Max said cheerfully. “Unless one of you objects. But I don’t think either of you will.”

“Good guess,” Jonah said. 

Kinga didn’t have much at all to say, increasingly frantically squirming and arching in her bonds as Max touched her just the way she’d wanted him to.

“Come on, lovely girl, let me get you there,” Max cooed, rubbing her clit a little faster. Kinga’s fingers and toes curled and she let out a loud cry a few moments later as he did get her there, a gush of her wetness soaking his fingers and splashing onto the puppy pad underneath her. 

Max didn’t remove his hands from her until she gasped, “Enough,” and then he was slow to pull his fingers out of her, leaving her trembling and splayed out in front of him.

“God, you’re beautiful,” he breathed, rubbing his less messy hand over her back. “Do you always get this wet, or is this a response to the occasion?”

“She always does,” Jonah said, gaze caught on Kinga’s face and the expression of peaceful pleasure on it as she caught her shaky breath. “It’s the most incredible thing to feel her get slicker when you’re pushing into her, I swear.” She smirked at him and he smirked back, moving around the table to take Max’s place. “So, Kinga… had enough?”

“Not until you’re done with me. I believe you promised to make me scream?” Her voice was a throaty purr, obviously satisfied and just as obviously not satisfied enough for her taste. “I wanted to see how you were planning on doing that.” Jonah knelt down at the end of the table, so tall that it put him at just the right height to do what he’d intended to do since the beginning of the night. He took off his glasses and put them on the corner of the table.

“Color me curious,” Max said, trading places with Jonah, picking up his glasses to keep them safe, and leaning down to look at Kinga. “You okay, honey?”

“I’m afraid so,” Kinga said. “But I could be better.”

“Do you ever have enough?”

“Rarely and not for long.” She twitched when Jonah blew gently against her dripping cunt and whined at the back of her throat. “Oh, come on, don’t tease me.”

“This isn’t teasing,” Jonah said, “this is just getting your attention.” He ran his hands down her legs and leaned in to rub his scruffy cheek against one thigh, making her mewl as he slowly moved his way up to lick at her, tongue delving between her folds and lapping at the source of her tangy juices. Sucking her taste off a glove was nothing like licking her clean directly; Jonah could have been happy spending this whole time going down on her. 

Kinga could barely catch her breath, constantly whimpering and writhing from Jonah’s clever mouth exploring her already over-sensitive body with all the familiarity of the months they’d spent fucking around together. His stubble scratching against her tenderest skin was maddening and perfect, just enough pain to bring the pleasure of his tongue spearing into her into sharp focus. “ _Please_ ,” she gasped as his hands wrapped around her upper thighs to pull her closer, fingertips digging into her soft skin. “Please, Jonah….” 

“Oh,” Max breathed, a hand pressed to his mouth as he watched with wide eyes. He could see the tremors running through Kinga increasing as Jonah ate her out with passion and devotion, the flush in her cheeks darkening. She met Max’s eyes and he smiled. “You’re so gorgeous like this,” he said softly. “We’ll just have to be really diligent about keeping you satisfied.”

“Fuck,” Kinga said, and then again, much louder, “ _fuck_!” 

Jonah made a muffled sound into her pussy as her orgasm left his face coated in her wetness and pulled back licking his lips and stroking her legs gently. “I could do that all day long,” he said in an extremely smug tone. 

“Ah— let— let me go,” she managed, shaking in both body and voice. As soon as she was untied she stretched, sat up on the edge of the table, and buried her face against Jonah’s chest as he stood in front of her. “Oh my god, that was _amazing_.”

“ _You’re_ amazing,” Jonah said, bending to kiss the top of her head. “It’s crazy how sexy you are.”

“It’s crazy how sexy you both are,” Max said, reaching in to stroke Kinga’s back as she shivered against Jonah’s chest. “Wow, I cannot _wait_ to take you both home with me.”

“Cuddle puddle first?” Jonah asked, pulling Max in with one arm to be hugged too. “That was always intended to be the end of the night.”

“Well, of course,” Max said. “Although you might need to carry her to the lair with the way her legs are shaking.”

“Oh, _please_ carry me,” Kinga said, reaching up to loop her arms around Jonah’s neck. “That would be perfect.”

“You carry her and I’ll carry your stuff,” Max suggested, “and then we can just leave right away at one?”

“I don’t know what you think you’ll be doing with us after one,” Jonah said. “You usually pass out after getting home.”

“Are you calling me old?”

“I wouldn’t dream of it. Just saying that you’re not used to staying up very late.”

“Extenuating circumstances can drive a man to do all kinds of crazy things,” Max said, “and I think getting the two people I love into my bed for the first time is quite a circumstance. Don’t worry about me. I’ll make a pot of coffee if I have to. I just have _plans_ for the both of you that I don’t see me getting to sleep without putting into play.”

“That sounds very promising,” Kinga purred, turning to run her fingers through Max’s curls. 

“But you need at least one article of clothing before you can come into the nest.”

“Oh, fine. You and your cuddle club rules.”

“I told you already, no fluids in the pillow pile. Not that I have any real objection to how gloriously wet you get…” Max skimmed his fingers up Kinga’s thigh and she squirmed. “But I’m the one who does the laundry.”

“You’ll have enough of it to do after you take me home,” Kinga said. “And enough of _me_ to do, because if you’re committed to staying awake, I’m committed to you showing me how cuddle sluts like to fuck.”

“Depends on the cuddle slut,” Max said, “but I will be happy to show you my methods for sure. I’m so excited to take you home, oh my god.” 

Kinga wriggled her way out of Jonah’s embrace and pushed herself off the table, landing on only slightly shaky legs before she made her way to the pile of her clothes and pulled on her panties. “Do I pass muster?” she asked, cocking a hip and smirking at the way Jonah and Max both stared.

“Access granted,” Max said, and Kinga grinned and bounced over to Jonah.

“Well? Are you going to carry me?”

“Yes, but you’re the one who gets to answer the questions about why I’m bridal carrying you through Impression,” Jonah said, and swept her into his arms with a giggle from her. “Wow, I’ve got such a pretty girlfriend, _and_ a cute partner, I’m so lucky.”

“Come on, then,” Max said, picking up Jonah’s backpack and the remainder of Kinga’s clothes and smiling up at them. “Intensive cuddles for an hour, and then the rest of the night belongs to just the three of us.”


End file.
